The 2021 Heytesbury Chardonnay is as Heytesbury usually is—complex, firmly textured, coastal and briny, with layers of flesh and spice folded in on the palate. The wine ages tremendously, and the release cycle really does it no favors, as the wine seems to come into its own several years after release. It really is a shame about commercial reality! You get salted white peach, brine, saltbush, green apple skins, tea leaves, graphite/pencil box, tobacco leaf and cilantro. It's a sensational wine, and it will be even better in time. It was fermented wild, matured for nine months in French oak barriques (56% new, the balance one to three years old) and settled for six months in tank thereafter. Super wine. Piercing. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

Vasse Felix is Margaret River's founding estate, and this tasting includes a vertical of the Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec. Dr. Tom Cullity was responsible for the planting of the old Cabernet and Malbec vines on the property in 1967, and the dry-grown parcel at the top of the hill overlooking the valley is the source block for the Tom Cullity Cabernet tasted here.

Made by longstanding winemaker Virginia Willcock, the wine is a barometer of the vintage, and in every year, it shows the variation and personality of the seasons. The first vintage was 2013, following the conclusion of the Vasse Felix Heytesbury red (last vintage was 2012), and it has been made every year since. Looking at the wines lined up, it was clear that I still favor the 2014 and 2018 above all else; however, all wines are aging gracefully and with purpose.

The Heytesbury Chardonnay remains one of my favorite Chardonnays to buy in Australia, and it was a hugely significant wine in the stylistic evolution of Australian Chardonnay. Its success in the Australian show circuit in 2010 (and Willcock's success in being awarded "Winemaker of the Year," among other accolades at the time) has cemented it as a desirable style (full solids, wild ferment), and today, most premium Australian Chardonnays are made in this manner. My opinion is that the wine is released too early, and as a result, many people do not get to experience the joy of an older (and seemingly ageless) Heytesbury Chardonnay.

An impressive tasting each year.