Vasse Felix Chardonnay 2024

Tasting Notes

• Appearance
  Straw with gold and green tinges. Bright, youthful and tightly focused in the glass.
• Nose
  Beautifully complex yet perfectly complete. Just ripe rockmelon and honeydew, citrus blossom and a touch of lemongrass and tarragon. Savoury notes of mushroom and chicken bouillon sit underneath, balanced by mineral elements of struck flint and seaspray.
• Palate
  A weighted, fleshy core is balanced by fresh acidity and fine, dry phenolics that frame the wine’s power and complexity. Grilled nectarine, roast pecan, galangal and smoked cream drive the flavour through the mid palate. Despite its richness, the line stays bright and pure, finishing with real clarity and mineral grip.

Finish
Long, savoury and precise, with stone fruit, nutty oak, citrus zest and flinty notes lingering on a clean, mouth watering finish.

Winemaker’s Note

The 2024 Chardonnay is built from premier parcels rooted in lean coastal ridge soils, naturally low yielding and highly concentrated. Most fruit is Gingin clone, providing strength, power and structure. Smaller components of Bernard clones 95, 96 and 76 bring softness, lightness and a creamy texture to complete the palate.

High solids, wild yeast and barrel ferment create the wild, layered complexity that defines Vasse Felix Chardonnay, while careful oak selection and partial malolactic fermentation maintain freshness, drive and balance.

Viticulture and Winemaking

Region
Margaret River, Western Australia

Variety
100 percent Chardonnay

Clones

• 90 percent Gingin clone for power, structure and concentration

• 10 percent Bernard clones 95, 96 and 76 for creaminess and fine texture

Vintage 2024

• Early, warm and fast paced growing season

• Warmest spring in memory with below average rainfall led to early flowering and veraison

• Summer was warm and dry with no extremes, allowing fruit to ripen cleanly and evenly

• Marri blossom was abundant, keeping bird pressure almost zero

• Chardonnay from Wilyabrup and coastal sites showed excellent balance and flavour, with outstanding fruit quality despite the early season

Harvest

• Hand harvested and Selectiv harvested

• Harvest dates: 17 January to 10 February

Pressing and Juice Handling

• Hand harvested fruit chilled and whole bunch pressed, some whole berry air bag pressed

• Selectiv harvested parcels direct pressed to produce cloudy, high solids juice

• High solids, average 580 NTU, with full solids from whole bunch pressing and balance racked off at high NTU

Fermentation and Maturation

• 100 percent wild yeast fermentation

• Fermentation vessel: French oak barriques

• Maturation:

  • 15 months total

  • 10 months in French oak barriques, 30 percent new and 70 percent 1 to 3 year old

  • 5 months blended in tank to harmonise before bottling

• Malolactic fermentation: approximately three quarters completed, giving texture while retaining freshness

Technical

• Alcohol: 13.5 percent

• TA: 6.5 g per litre

• pH: 3.19

• Malic acid: 0.67 g per litre

• Residual sugar: 1.2 g per litre

• Vegan friendly: Yes

• Bottled: 1 May 2025

Serving and Cellaring

• Serving temperature: 10 to 12 degrees, cooler for aperitif, slightly warmer with food

• Cellaring:

  • Enjoy now for vivid fruit, flint and energy

  • 5 plus years to build roasted nut, brioche and honeyed complexity while keeping its line and length

A quick splash in a decanter or larger glass will let the struck match, seaspray and grilled stone fruit characters fully open out.

Food Pairing Suggestions

• Roast chicken with lemon, garlic and thyme

• Pan seared scallops with cauliflower puree and brown butter

• Grilled marron or lobster with herb butter

• Pork cutlets with apple, fennel and sage

• Mushroom and parmesan risotto

FAQ 🧐

Is this an oaky Chardonnay?
It has clear high quality French oak influence, but the style is about balance and structure, not overt butter and oak. The fruit, wild ferment and flinty minerality sit at the core.

How is it different from richer old school styles?
This is a modern Margaret River style. It has power and weight, yet the acidity, phenolic structure and mineral elements keep it tight, focused and refreshing rather than broad or heavy.

Do I need to wait to drink it?
Not at all. It is already beautifully put together on release, but those who enjoy more nutty, toasty and honeyed notes will be rewarded by cellaring for several years.

A powerful, complex and finely tuned Margaret River Chardonnay that captures both the richness of the 2024 vintage and the wild, layered house style of Vasse Felix.