Tasting Profile
November 2025
This single-block wine is sourced from just 0.5 ha of 28-year-old Chardonnay vines within the Faultline block. Compared to the Farrago block, the soil contains less ironstone and more deep clay, leading to wines containing an earthy depth and a fuller, richer palate. The fruit was gently whole-bunch pressed directly into French oak 350L barrels (20% of which were new), and fermentation occurred spontaneously with ambient yeasts. Following fermentation, the wine was aged on lees (without battonage) for 11 months and was racked only once, directly prior to bottling. The wine was bottled without fining and with minimal filtration.
Lifted aromas of grapefruit pith, lime blossom and white peach unfold over layers of flint, almond meal and freshly baked dough. Subtle oak sits quietly in the background, lending shape and complexity without obscuring the wine’s purity.
The palate is taut, precise and finely detailed. Citrus and white stone fruit flavours flow along a bright, chalky acid line, carrying impressive energy and drive. Lees maturation contributes texture and breadth, while a fine phenolic grip and saline mineral thread bring depth and structure. Focused and persistent, the wine finishes long, savoury and remarkably clear.Approachable now, this wine will continue to gain complexity and nuance with careful cellaring over the next decade and beyond.
13.0%
Tasting Profile 2024
Tasting Profile 2023
Tasting Profile 2022
Reviews
JancisRobinson.com, May 2024
Tamlyn Currin
From a 0.6-ha parcel in the Faultine vineyard (on a fault line), planted in 1996, north-facing, on deep clay soils, 100–120 m. Spontaneous fermentation. Roughly 25% new oak.
So intense and concentrated! So rich and tropical it almost tastes sweet. Golden and glistening. Mango, cinnamon, honey and apricot. Such a luscious overspill of fruit and succulence that I think this wine has identity issues – deep down, it thinks it’s a dessert wine! But the structure, line and exquisite detail, like Van Gogh’s pencil and reed-pen drawings of Montmajour, has an almost feverishly monastic discipline. The tension between the two extremes is thrilling.
17.5/20 points
The WineFront, June 2026
Campbell Mattinson
From a style, length and complexity viewpoint, this wine is outstanding. It throws just enough flint notes, has a brine-and-mineral sensibility, carries white peach, grapefruit pulp and nectarine flavours, and soars long through the finish. Sparks of nougat, cooked apple, toast and lemonade fire persuasively as it rattles into the distance.
95 points
Wine Pilot, July 2026
Jeni Port
A contrasting style to its Farrago sibling, Faultline brings a little more weight and depth to its Chardonnay fruit. You sense more presence in the glass. Raises the role of lemon citrus, grapefruit, quince and Asian pear on the aroma compared to more subtle stone fruits, with background almond biscuit and earth savouriness. Delivers subtle elegance and precision with a firm citrus fruit intensity running deep. There is the promise of so much more still being held in reserve with this wine, including age-worthiness.
96 points
The Vintage
The Vineyard
The Kooyong vineyard is located on the Mornington Peninsula at Tuerong, on Miocene sedimentary soils. Our wines are made from domain grown, handpicked grapes and aim to manifest terroir: the integration of our geology and soils with the macroclimate of our region, the mesoclimates of the various sites within our vineyard and the weather of the annual grape growing season. Our cultural operations in the vineyard and practices in the winery endeavour to articulate these unique characteristics diligently, respectfully and without artifice.