2024 Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown King Valley Chardonnay
2024 Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown King Valley Chardonnay

2024 Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown King Valley Chardonnay

95 pts
Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown |King Valley |Chardonnay
A bright, finely balanced cool-climate Chardonnay, shaped by a tricky vintage and some smart vineyard sourcing.
5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
3 Reviews
Price:
$44.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

The 2024 Chardonnay marks a bit of a detour for Tessa Brown and Jeremy Schmolzer. After a tough spring frost wiped out most of their Thorley vineyard crop, they turned to Clare Burder’s Whitlands site - a high-altitude vineyard that’s long been known for producing bright, finely detailed fruit.

Despite the curveballs the season threw, this wine feels totally in line with what we’ve come to expect from VS&B: pure fruit, clean lines, and a nice thread of natural acidity that keeps everything feeling crisp and focused. The winemaking stays true to their usual light-touch style - wild ferment, gentle handling, and just enough time in oak to add some subtle texture without overshadowing the fruit.

It’s a Chardonnay that’s more on the elegant, taut side rather than full-bodied, showing off the cool-climate edge of Whitlands really well. Definitely one for those who like their Chardy with lift and precision, but still plenty of flavour.

95 points
"Wild edge, meadow flowers, clotted cream and crab apples... effortless on the palate, lithe, pretty and impactful."
- Kasia Sobiesiak (The Wine Front)

95 points
"It dances through the mouth with chalk-powder phenolics and bright, driving acidity pulling length. The complexity and poise here punch well above its price. Just 114 dozen made – run, don’t walk."
- Tom Kline (Wine Pilot)

95 points - "The fruit might be from a different vineyard, but the winemaker’s signature is here: pretty detail, understated complex tones of fruit and non-fruit, mineral tension, all seen in so many other VS&B wines. There’s a raw element to this wine (but not rugged), wild edge, rolled oats, meadow flowers, salty-savoury clotted cream, hay, crab apples, a hint of cinnamon bark. It’s bucolic. Absolutely effortless on the palate, lithe, pretty, detailed like no other, yet persistent and impactful. Such an honest pleasure." - Kasia Sobiesiak (The Wine Front)

95 points - "Frost hammered the Thorley vineyard in late October 2023, leaving no fruit to declassify for this wine. Instead, fruit was sourced from Clare Burder’s Whitlands vineyard, which sits at a similar altitude with vines rooted in old basalt soils. It’s immensely gratifying from the outset — fine cedar and flint quickly filled out by poached cinnamon apple, lemon curd, preserved lemon, woodsmoke and a glimmer of green almond. Deeper nectarine and toffee apple notes emerge with air, along with a suggestion of nougat and subtle lees-derived dough. Lots going on. The palate delivers sapid flavour wrapped in supple texture, all underpinned by beautiful freshness. Green apple, citrus preserves, almond, grilled nectarine, Meyer lemon, flint and cedar again. It dances through the mouth with chalk-powder phenolics and bright, driving acidity pulling length. The complexity and poise here punch well above its price. Just 114 dozen made – run, don’t walk." - Tom Kline (Wine Pilot)

Customer Reviews

5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 3 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 3 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
3 reviews
  • YL
    Yongkyu L.
    Verified Buyer
    1 month ago
    Reviewing
    2024 Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown King Valley Chardonnay
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Beechworth chardonnay

    An absolutely stunning Chardonnay—so elegant and precise.

    Was this helpful?
  • MR
    Michael R.
    Verified Buyer
    1 month ago
    Reviewing
    2024 Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown King Valley Chardonnay
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Balance

    Lovely, elegant Chardonnay. Impeccable as usual from VS&B.

    Was this helpful?
  • MC
    Martin C.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    2 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    Reviewing
    2022 Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown Beechworth Chardonnay
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Gunsmoke!

    A lovely flinty number from Beechworth but alas it's sold out

    Was this helpful?
Price Bracket $41 to $50
Type White
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country Australia
Region King Valley
Australian State VIC
Feature Women in Wine
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Wine Pilot
Critic Score 95
Alcohol 12%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure Screw Cap

Vignerons Schmölzer & Brown

Tessa and Jeremy are playing a long-game with their Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown label.

They have invested in a block of land high in the hills behind Beechworth and have planted 10,000 vines on it over the last couple of years with the plan to farm it organically. Tessa has a wealth of experience from time at Sorrenberg and Kooyong, Jeremy is an architect by trade with an eye for detail.

It comes as no surprise that the buzz around this husband and wife team is palpable and the praise is high. Max Allen called them, “one of a remarkable number of impressive new wine labels to have cropped up in Beechworth over the last five years.”

They are going to be at the forefront of Beechworth wine for many years to come.

Tessa and Jeremy in Thorley vineyard - Beechworth, VIC Vignerons Schmölzer & Brown

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