2022 Murdoch Hill Artisan Series The Rocket Chardonnay

Highly Rated
Michael Downer's highly-rated and extremely limited flagship Chardonnay. Becoming on of South Australia's best Chardonnays, full stop.

Price:
Sale price$90.00
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In stock, ready to ship

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Description

"The ferment took off like a rocket," said Michael Downer on the inception of this brilliant cuvee. One vintage, a barrel of Chardonnay went a little bit more wild than the rest, and Downer decided to bottle it separately. And thus, The Rocket was launched.

This is the latest release of this blistering, laser-focused Chardonnay from Murdoch Hill, all sourced from the Piccadilly Valley.

It's a superb blend of the piercing and powerful with grapefruit, apple skin and a good minerally edge. Stunning stuff.

97 Points & 2023 Halliday Top 100
"It is a truly heavenly chardonnay, with impeccable balance and mouthfeel..."
- James Halliday (Halliday Wine Companion)

96 Points & Top 100 Australian Wines of 2023
"Somewhere between the Jura and the nether of the New World, this is an exceptional if not highly stylised, mid-weighted chardonna... I often prefer the Tilbury bottling, but not in this instance."
- Ned Goodwin MW (jamessuckling.com)

96 Points
"Lots going on here. Brilliant texture too... Kaleidoscopic in feel. Excellent mod-Aus chardy."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)

Chardonnay with great depth whilst retaining precise acidity. The mild conditions brought flavour development early allowing us to pick with excellent natural acidity. Yields were in balance and gave rise to some ripe stone fruits characters, white flowers, complex citrus characters and a fine mineral finish.

Region: Adelaide Hills, SA
Blend: Chardonnay (100%)
ABV:
Closure: 750ml
Bottle Size:
Production:

97 points & 2023 Halliday Top 100 - "The back label states: “Made on Earth by humans.” It is a truly heavenly chardonnay, with impeccable balance and mouthfeel, attributes it will retain as it matures in bottle. The fruit has the whip hand, not the oak." - James Halliday (Halliday Wine Companion)

96 Points - "Flint, nectarine skin, white peaches and chalk, a saline slake of mineral torque, pungent and saliva-sapping across the long, punchy finish. Classy oak embossment. Somewhere between the Jura and the nether of the New World, this is an exceptional if not highly stylised, mid-weighted chardonnay molded for the acid freak. Will age well, no doubt. I often prefer the Tilbury bottling, but not in this instance. Drink or hold." - Ned Goodwin MW (jamessuckling.com)

96 Points - "Lots going on here. Brilliant texture too, almost chalky with pucker, bristling with ticklish general minerality, understated in flint, lime, green apple, halva, alpine herbs and fennel. Feels very sleek and slick, extra long, finely and tightly wound but with drinkability in tow. Very precise. A gentle savouriness underlying, with green almond a feature, a feature in the lingering finish. Kaleidoscopic in feel. Excellent mod-Aus chardy." - Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)

Murdoch Hill

Murdoch Hill is a family-owned winery captained by talented young winemaker Michael Downer.

Downer splits the range in two: his clean-cut, consistently high-quality ‘Estate’ wines are excellent value and perpetually reliable, and his quirky, adventurous ‘Artisan’ wines which offer an alt-styling and different shades of the region.

With the combination of high-quality Adelaide Hills fruit grown on the family estate and the undoubted talent in the winery, this is a Hills producer on the up and up!

Murdoch Hill Murdoch Hill

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