97 points - "Conjuring up the funkiest tunes to match with this all-out funky wine (I reckon Isaac Hayes’ brilliant theme music from Shaft is a winner). It’s the combo of the hi-hat and wah-wah. Can you dig it? Yes, I can – both the music and this, the finest Forrest vineyard chardonnay to date. Brimming with moreish, savoury, mouth-watering, funky sulphides. But there’s more: thoughtful winemaking harnesses the power of the site and thus the fruit offers an explosion of flavour – citrus, white stone fruit, spice and feathery light lees, oak superbly integrated and teased by a laser light beam of acidity. This is complex, delicious and compelling." - Jane Faulkner (Halliday Wine Companion)

97 points – "The 2023 Single Vineyard Chardonnay is from the Forrest Vineyard in central Wilyabrup, to the north of Margaret River town. The 2023 season that birthed it was magnificent—the best this century for whites; the premium reds are yet to be released. Mild temperatures and a long, dry growing season meant there was little to no pressure in the vineyard. The fruit was in brilliant condition, and the wines show this.

The 2023 Single Vineyard Chardonnay leads with elegantly managed reduction, showing curry leaf and brine, white flowers, flint and salted nuts, beeswax, sea spray, and fresh-pressed linen. This is a pleasure to smell and even better to taste. Ductile, resolved phenolics provide shape on the palate, while the toasty oak sits neatly folded into the fruit. What a wine. Yes. The best release under this label yet." – Erin Larkin (Robert Parker Wine Advocate)

95 points – "This classy and refined single-vineyard Chardonnay is very expressive and mineral, with notes of preserved lemons, lime curd, and flint. The medium-bodied palate has high-tension acidity, giving powerful notes of grapefruit rind, candied lime zest, and chalk." – JamesSuckling.com

Overview
The 2023 Nocturne SV Chardonnay is something special—undoubtedly the best Nocturne SV Chardonnay to date. It delivers massive complexity and intensity while maintaining perfect harmony, making it an assault on the senses in the most elegant way possible.

Vineyard & Terroir
Sourced from a single site, the Forrest Vineyard in the Wilyabrup sub-region of Margaret River, this wine comes from a tiny ridge section in the middle of the vineyard, selectively picked for this release.

Clone: WA Gin Gin
Soil: Deep silver-grey sands
Proximity to the coast: 3 km
Yield: Naturally low, leading to early picking dates
Harvest & Winemaking
Handpicked: 20th February 2023 (two days earlier than 2022)
Pressing: Whole bunch-pressed directly to new, one- and two-year-old puncheons, with no settling or fining
Fermentation: Spontaneous, beginning on day five after pressing
Aging: Four-week ferment, then aged on gross lees without sulphur until October
Bottling: Racked in December, settled, filtered, and bottled
Tasting Notes
This wine is marked by its unbelievable natural acidity and structural drive, needing time to truly unfurl and express itself fully. It carries the signature character of Nocturne’s SV Chardonnays:

Aromas & Flavors: Flint, funk, just-ripe stone fruit, citrus, and grilled lime
Texture: Bright acidity with al dente tannin structure
Final Thoughts
A wine of bright energy and potential, promising continued evolution. Change is growth, and this Chardonnay exemplifies that beautifully.

– Julian Langworthy