2024s from Nocturne, Margaret River
Two new captivating Chardonnays - truly outstanding
SV Forrest and Wilson Chardonnays remain, as ever, awesomely epic expressions of the best sites in Margaret River.
Julian Langworthy, Winemaker, Nocturne
2024 Chardonnay, Forrest Vineyard, Nocturne
£195 per 6 bottle case in bond
2024 Chardonnay, Wilson Vineyard, Nocturne
£195 per 6 bottle case in bond
I am prepared to make a fairly bold statement here: I seriously doubt that you will come across two more engaging, complex, well-crafted Chardonnay as these, under say £300 per 6 bottle case, this year, noting that we are only in January and these are actually £195 per case!
We first offered wines from Nocturne in April last year, initially offering the 2023 Forrest Single Vineyard Chardonnay and then offering the 2023 Treeton Chardonnay a few weeks later. Both offers were, unsurprisingly, a runaway success.
I have just tasted the 2024 Forrest, which comes from a warmer vintage, and I think it is going to win considerable favour with our clients. Winemaker, Julian Langworthy describes it in his own inimitable style as follows; ‘Is it the peer of the peerless 2023, a wine that was as effortless as any I have ever made? No, is the answer, but I have a little feeling that many of you will prefer it. A trademark assault to the senses of flint and funk and ripe acidity, yet this wine, given the season, has more flesh on its bones and strays slightly to riper fruits. See what you think; my feeling is that it’s a very cool incarnation of the coolest of cool vineyards in a warm year.’
It is certainly a touch riper in terms of fruit expression than the 2023, but this comment is made with all things being relative. I am yet to taste a wine from Julian that I wouldn’t describe as precise and racy. The Forrest vineyard lies in the Wilyabrup sub-region of the Margaret River, home to a good number impressive Western Australian wines. It lies just 3 kilometres from the coast. It comes from a small section of the vineyard’s middle ridge and as Julian states, it also exhibits bright acidity and structural drive. The vineyard is based on deep, silver-grey sands. The 2024 was picked a month earlier than the 2023 – on the 25th January. It is fermented with natural yeast in some new but mainly old large oak puncheons, then aged on its lees until October. The results are spectacular. There is something about this site that impresses me greatly – a combination of complexity and precision. The 2024 is a touch more forward than the 2023, so if you have the 2023 in your cellar, you could broach this sooner and leave the 2023 to have an extended snooze.
Additionally, this year we have purchased wine from another single vineyard, namely Wilson, and again in the 2024 vintage. This is actually the second single vineyard release that Julian has made from this site. It is quite a contrast to the Forrest; it has terrific verve. I’ll give some background here and leave you to read my tasting notes below. This comes from a different sub-region, known as Walcliffe, which lies further inland from the coast. It is a small Chardonnay vineyard, covering just two hectares. Julian takes a small selection from the top of a slope that is slightly oriented to the north. It was harvested a touch later than the Forrest – on the 3rd February. The winemaking approach was basically identical to the Forrest – it was aged on its lees until September, bottled in December. It saw a little more new oak than the Forrest, coming in at 20%, though you would be very hard-pressed to pick it up.
These two Chardonnays are just stunning – and while the Forrest could be broached early, it is also a very good prospect for cellarage. The Wilson demands a little more cellarage before drinking in its prime...but what a wine. We have championed some very fine Chardonnay over the years; these rank among the finest we have come across from the Antipodes, markedly different to styles from, say, the Macedon Ranges or Adelaide Hills. These are racier, overtly mineral, wonderfully pure, and have an unbridled sense of verve, remaining precise and mouthwatering,
Below are my notes. No major critic has yet published notes on these, but the 2023 Forrest received a rave review from Erin Larkin on robertparker.com and a 97-point score. These are hot on its heels. Take my word for it. I said it last time, but I think it is worth reiterating here: This is an example of what Burgundy is up against – it is a supremely elegant Chardonnay with a tension to the palate that is hard to find in similarly priced Burgundian wines and all at just 13 degrees of alcohol. For my money, there is no greater complexity to be found in Burgundy at this level, and frankly, this would compete with wines of far greater expense, offering perhaps equal or even greater longevity.
2024 Chardonnay, Forrest Vineyard, Nocturne
£195 per 6 bottle case in bond
Pale lemon in the glass, with instantly complex aromas of juicy lime and nectarine, a touch of toasted cashew, and an almost flinty mineral quality. A touch more ripeness comes through on the palate, with that nectarine fruit to the fore, together with a distinct leesy, creamy quality. Wonderfully pure, the naturally bright acidity still lends a mouthwatering, limey quality to this impressive Chardonnay in this warmer vintage. It finishes taut and saline. This exudes class, with a classical tension between fruit and acidity. The winemaking is deft, allowing the natural verve of the site to assert. This is both complex, captivating and impressively persistent. Sign me up. (SL). Drink from 2026 to 2035
2024 Chardonnay, Wilson Vineyard, Nocturne
£195 per 6 bottle case in bond
Equally pale in hue, yet showing more of that smokey bacon, reductive character to the juicy limey, citrus fruit on the nose. It shows a touch of that nectarine/ white stone fruit, but this is a more piercing, driven style. A touch more linear in style that the Forrest, overtly mineral once more, with a marked stoney quality asserting. Lively in its current form, I think there is more to come here, and while it shows the hallmarks that I have come to associate with these wines – creamy, leesy notes, smokey qualities, hints of background toast – it has a piercingly bright acidity, even in this warmer vintage. The most juicy citrus and saline minerals merge on the finish, providing a mouthwatering, lingering sensation, where neither fruit nor mineral dominate. This is quite something and it isn’t difficult to see why Julian has opted to bottle this single vineyard selection once more. Stunning, but give it a little patience. (SL) Drink from 2027 to 2035
Julian Langworthy is clearly a very talented winemaker based on the sum of wines tasted to date. Nothing has disappointed. It comes as no surprise that he was named James Halliday’s Best Winemaker in 2019 and that he continues to win significant plaudits for his wines.
Once more, I expect these small batch Chardonnay to sell very well, so do let us know of your interest early. It is really exciting to be bringing you offers such as this. These are truly outstanding wines.
Simon
simon.larkin@atlasfinewines.com