Vasse Felix Chardonnay Heytesbury 2024 750ml

Name: Vasse Felix Chardonnay Heytesbury 2024 750ml
Brand: Vasse Felix
SKU: 1047061
Price: 114.94 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 97 (4 reviews)

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SKU 1047061

$114.94/bottle

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The 2024 Heytesbury Chardonnay leads with toasted cashews and white peach, pink grapefruit and preserved lemon rind, all of it woven together by saline acidity. There’s pressed linen, white flowers and wax, too. The palate is textural and shapely (something of a house style at Vasse Felix), and the length through the finish is long. While this may not have the precision and focus of the 2023 Heytesbury, it has personality, texture, line and power, and I love it for all of those attributes. What a superstar wine. It was fermented 100% in French oak, with 85% of the volume in barrique and the balance in puncheon. The total percentage of new oak was 53%, and the wine was matured for 10 months, followed by six months post-blending in tank. It will be released globally on May 1, 2026. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The Heytesbury Chardonnay release is emphatically one of my favorite Chardonnay releases (globally) each year. My criticism of it—I’ve been open about this to the abundantly talented winemaker, Virginia Willcock—is that this wine is released too early. Despite the release being pushed back six months or so, I still find myself drinking older bottles and being absolutely and totally blown away by them. On release, I merely love them. 2024 in Margaret River was a challenging year. It was record-breakingly hot and dry, although it bears noting that most of the vineyards in Margaret River are planted on their own roots—and of those, most were planted last century, so the vines do have a certain amount of inbuilt resilience to above-ground weather events. This wine, it also bears noting, is brilliant every single vintage. The wines are reflective of the year and the sites, but more than that, they speak of the purity, drive and power inherent in Margaret River Chardonnay. They are an asset to Australian wine.

Country: Australia
Region: Margaret River

Size: 750ml
Color: White
Alcohol by Vol: 13.6%

SKU: 1047061

More about this item

Winery Vasse Felix

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Varietal Chardonnay

Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one that has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is Chardonnay. This green-skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity, which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.

Country Australia

Whilst most of Australia consists of arid deserts and dense bushland, the oceanic coasts to the south of the country have a terrain and climate ideal for vine cultivation and wine production. It took several decades of failed attempts at the end of the 18th century in order to produce vines of a decent enough quality for making wine, but since those first false starts, the Australian wine industry has continued to grow and grow. Today, wine production makes up for a considerable part of the Australian economy, with exports in recent years reaching unprecedented levels and even overtaking France for the first time ever. Whilst the greatest successes in regards to quality have been the result of the Syrah grape varietal (known locally as Shiraz), Australia utilizes several Old World grapes, and has had fantastic results from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Riesling, Chardonnay and more. As the Australian passion for locally produced wine continues to develop, wineries have begun experimenting with a wider range of grape varietals, meaning that nowadays it isn't uncommon to find high quality Australian wines made from Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Tempranillo and Viognier, amongst many others.

Region Margaret River

When it comes to the south-westerly part of Australia, the Margaret River is by far the most important and productive of the area's wine producing regions. The region itself currently has over five thousand hectares of land under vine, and there are almost one hundred and fifty wineries operating there, making the most of the humid and warm climate many experts claim is remarkably similar to that which is found in the Bordeaux region of France. Such a climate can only produce fantastic yields of grapes of exceptional quality, and indeed, Margaret River currently produces almost twenty percent of Australia's wines. Both red and white wine grapes grow in the region, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Sémillon being the varietals most commonly and widely grown.

Ratings & Reviews

WA 97pts

Wine Advocate

The 2024 Heytesbury Chardonnay leads with toasted cashews and white peach, pink grapefruit and preserved lemon rind, all of it woven together by saline acidity. There's pressed linen, white flowers and wax, too. The palate is textural and shapely (something of a house style at Vasse Felix), and the length through the finish is long. While this may not have the precision and focus of the 2023 Heytesbury, it has personality, texture, line and power, and I love it for all of those attributes. What a superstar wine. It was fermented 100% in French oak, with 85% of the volume in barrique and the balance in puncheon. The total percentage of new oak was 53%, and the wine was matured for 10 months, followed by six months post-blending in tank. It will be released globally on May 1, 2026. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. The Heytesbury Chardonnay release is emphatically one of my favorite Chardonnay releases (globally) each year. My criticism of it—I've been open about this to the abundantly talented winemaker, Virginia Willcock—is that this wine is released too early. Despite the release being pushed back six months or so, I still find myself drinking older bottles and being absolutely and totally blown away by them. On release, I merely love them. 2024 in Margaret River was a challenging year. It was record-breakingly hot and dry, although it bears noting that most of the vineyards in Margaret River are planted on their own roots—and of those, most were planted last century, so the vines do have a certain amount of inbuilt resilience to above-ground weather events. This wine, it also bears noting, is brilliant every single vintage. The wines are reflective of the year and the sites, but more than that, they speak of the purity, drive and power inherent in Margaret River Chardonnay. They are an asset to Australian wine.

JS 97pts

James Suckling

The balance of fruit and tension is fantastic, with aromas of lemon confit, oatmeal, white mushrooms, crushed stones, jasmine, green melon and citrus blossoms. The palate is mid-weighted with a tightly woven texture, fine-boned acidity and a lovely phenolic grip intertwining oak and fruit. It’s generous, yet retains all the tension and salinity typical of Margaret River. Don’t be misled by the fruit concentration. There’s still freshness and minerality throughout. Excellent. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

WE 97pts

Wine Enthusiast

#25 in Top 100 Cellar Selections, 2026. Melon and lemon rind headline, backed by flint, toasted nuts, salted cream and subtle saline notes on this complex-yet-approachable top Chard from Margaret River’s founding estate. There’s a lip-smacking lemony freshness to the fruit, even with the subtle weight of the toasty oak and lees influence, and it lingers long and bright on the palate. A tightrope of power and elegance, this is a seriously well made Chardy from one of the region’s top players. (Cellar Selection)

JH 97pts

James Halliday

The Heytesbury DNA is loud and clear. It's driven by pristine fruit flavours – all grapefruit and lemon – powered by moreish, savoury, complex flavours of gunflint, match-strike sulphides, superbly integrated oak and mouth-watering acidity. It’s just one of the great chardonnays. Simple as that really.

Winery Notes

APPEARANCE: Pale straw with a green tinge. NOSE: An enticing, complex array of citrus, lemon/lime rind and pith, with light pineapple and sweet pie crust. Inviting savoury complexities of mushroom, ocean and flinty fire cracker complete the elegant perfume. PALATE: A fleshy entrance with lovely weight and richness is supported by the structure of classic Heytesbury acid and pithy firmness. An almost cuddly core reveals beautiful lemon sponge characters, then finishes dry with hints of fresh sage and stone flint.