Jeni Port

Halliday Wine Companion 95 Points

The '22 sees a price rise and, frankly, it's easy to see why. Thorley breaks away from its usual youthful shyness and arrives fully expressive, complex and totally irresistible. Sits firmly, as usual, in the white peach and nectarine spectrum with added grapefruit pith, lemon and some gentle, biscuity oak. But it is the depth of fruit concentration and length that really impresses with beautifully integrated acidity.

Kasia Sobiesiak

The Wine Front 96 Points

What a great drink. A Chardonnay with a soul. Peach cream is the base with plenty of apples, green pears, sweet citrus, toasted cashews and almond muesli bar, a hint of sweetness, a la milk powder or milk bottle lolly. All of the above excite the nose, and the mouth waters instantly. What follows is a super fine, chalky palate, with very refreshing, yet gentle in its form, acidity, and just a sprinkle of salt, giving this wine that minerally feel you long for. Summa summarum, the picture is crystal clear—it’s a delicious wine with class and character.

Tom Kline

Wine Pilot 94 Points

This blossoms beautifully in the glass. It’s tight and fine, but firm in its unfurling. Flint, fine cedar, salted pastry dough, and hard cheese rind intermingle with lemon pith and almond to set the scene. With air, more fruit presence appears in crushed green apple and lime zest, along with tonic and homemade lemonade. River stone minerality also comes through, adding interest. The palate has lovely lees-derived creaminess to fill out what would otherwise be a taut and tensile frame. Pastry dough, pear, lemon and lime zest, tonic, almond meal, and green apple skin glide through the mouth before a cut of bright lemon acidity pulls it long through the finish. This may not have the concentration of other Thorley releases due to the 2023 vintage, but the team at VS&B have still managed to craft a Chardonnay of trademark energy, tension, texture, and complexity.