Stonier Merricks Chardonnay 2025 - 3x75cl

Campbell Mattinson, Wine Front “It’s early-ish 2026 and this was picked in early-ish 2025, so fair to say that it’s still a pup, and arguably too young to be tasted and consumed. But boy oh boy does it have a mighty fine future ahead. Intensity, texture and length are already in an elevated place, and there are also suggestions of such interest. Oysters shells, lactose, honeysuckle and lemon myrtle are all whispers at most right now but they will develop, as will notes of white flowers. The base wine pushes white peach, custard apple and pear characters but in time there’ll be so much more. I’m bullish on this wine. It will be a beauty.”

 Jane Faulkner, Halliday.com  “Such a precise wine, linear and tight yet bursting with juicy acidity, a squirt of lemony saline and restrained flavours. Lemon, oyster shell, ginger flower and spice. It's a little creamy and nutty, but the palate remains contained and even. A little savoury and moreish, before the refreshing acidity takes over to deliver length and line. Yum.”

Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot) "The first bottling of Merricks Chardonnay under Julian Grounds guiding eye. A blend from three vineyards within the estate, with elevation. Wild ferment, no battonage, partial malo and into French puncheons of which 20% is new. Some delicate grated nutmeg and birch bark greets the grapefruit and white peach tones. The traces of oak also bring out the dainty white florals. Acidity climbs steadily whilst allowing for nougatine creaminess. This bottling is amping up those richer and more textural components that sit neatly beside buttery sauces and meaty shellfish so well. It is sexy and it knows it, beautiful sipping today and will age well over 8-10 years in the dark parts of your cellar."