Hello buttery Chardonnay. Or is it? Diving into the Harewood Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2022

In a wine world saturated with lean, crisp, taut Australian Chardonnay, old-school ‘big’ and buttery releases really stick out. They can be massively popular, too, servicing an audience who just want rich and luscious wines. This Harewood Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2022 sure smells the part, all golden biscuitty notes and overt vanilla bean. It’s bold. Oak and sulphides and leesy richness for days. The palate leans bigger too – ripe white peach, vanilla bean oak, the lot. But just when it looks to have swished into big buttery Chardonnay heaven, the finish tightens everything right up. It looks like minimal softening malolactic fermentation here as the acidity is tight and citrusy, which only amplifies the oak tannins on the finish. I get the reason for that tighter finish – it helps give this some freshness and energy, but is this wine missing a full-bodied Chardonnay trick? Otherwise, this doesn’t lack power or intensity, but it remains ok, rather than great.

THE VERDICT

• Best drinking: nowish
• Score (out of 20): 17
• Score (out of 100): 90
• Alcohol %: 13.5
• RRP (in $AUD): 50
• Winery website: https://harewood.com.au/#denmark
• Would I buy it?: a glass