2023 Holyman Chardonnay

The 2023 Holyman Chardonnay is all from our 0.75 Ha Chardonnay block that was planted in 1986. We have always been committed to only old vine fruit going into the Holyman wines which means that we will never be able to make more of this Chardonnay than we do now.

The Holyman Chardonnay grapes are 100% whole bunch pressed straight to new 500l French oak puncheons. Every year we use the same coopers, same forest and the lightest toast on the barrels. The ferments are all natural, and are stirred twice a day until the ferments finish. Once the ferments are finished we add SO2 to stop the wines going through malolactic fermentation as we prefer the natural acidity here in Tasmania to be at the forefront. Quite often our ferments stop during winter and begin again in spring which means that some years there is a percentage of malo, but in 2018 all our ferments finished so for this vintage there wasn’t any malo.

The wine is showing some stone fruits and yeasty aromas. In the mouth there is some beurre bosc pear and some floral hints. The palate is powerful and mouth filling and finished off by our usual grippy acidity, with hints of oak. – Joe & Lou Holyman

Here’s a very fine iteration of Holyman Chardonnay. There’s a whisper of struck match, some oyster shell, white nectarine, lemon zest, grapefruit, some lightly toasty cinnamon oak, with some vanilla nougat too. It’s crisp with cool acidity, quite saline, lemon biscuits, grapefruit and green melon, a nougat gloss, a fine grip of chalky texture, and a very long spicy finish. Terrific. Give it another year or so to settle in. 96 points. Gary Walsh, The Winefront Sep 2024