2022 Cri de Coeur Chardonnay

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Wine Pilot | Shanteh Wale | 96 points
50% went through malolactic fermentation in 40% new oak for 11 months. Zested lemons, cotton petals and crab apples. A hint of freesia and white nectarine skin. Supremely elegant and pretty. Oak glitters in white sandalwood and a smattering of sawdust. It has a mix of salt crystals, dried sunscreen and sticky icy pole melt. Like a day of merriment at the beach. The palate is linear with lingering acidity and finishing with white candlenut and creme fraiche quenelles. Its delicate and yet the palate flavours continue on as far as the horizon. Its pin point accuracy with its oak handling and allows the purity of perfectly picked fruit to shine in the spotlight. Wow this is stunning. A wonderful vintage for this superstar wine. Drink now or will cellar well for another decade. A perfect pairing for plump scallop nigiri and ginger.

Wine Pilot | 97 Points | Ray Jordan
One of the very best Crittenden chardonnays I have tasted. It comes from the original home block vineyard which has been through gradual rejuvenation to more sustainable management. The fruit was whole bunch pressed to a mix of new and one-year-old French barriques for wild yeast fermentation. About half went through malo and there was occasional lees stirring to bring texture while retaining the fine delicate acidity. Aromas of light fig and stone fruit with a little lemon zest. The palate has a delightful purity with a dry savoury finish completing an excellent wine.

Q Wine Reviews | 95 Points 
The Crittenden Cri de Coeur (cry of the heart) range is their best of the best and this 2022 Chardonnay flies that flag with ease. Whole bunch pressed to a mix of new (40%) and seasoned French oak for eleven months, it underwent wild yeast fermentation with 50% going through malolactic fermentation. Detail is the buzzword here with layers of interest seeking your attention. White petals, almond nougat, pistachios and barbecued white fleshed nectarines make a neat intro with buttered toast and whipped cream coming from the oak. Possessing well-handled weight without being bulky, a lemony drive is a consistent thread towing you along for a splendid ride. Focused with tension, it drives long with a fine textural presence on close. It's a moreish wine that urges considered thought. And on that, I'll take another sip and ponder some more. Excellent! Drink to eight years.

The Wine Advocate | Erin Larkin | 92 Points
The 2022 Cri de Coeur Chardonnay leads with crushed nuts and Golden Delicious apples, a profusion of white-fleshed orchard fruits and ground white pepper. In the mouth, it follows in these footsteps and is a measured, spicy, attractive wine of presence. There is a lovely, sapid aftertaste of sweet citrus. 13% alcohol, sealed under Diam.
 

The WineFront | Campbell Mattinson | 95 points
This chardonnay is from the Crittenden home vineyard. I’m of the view that Crittenden’s wines, while always good, have become incrementally better over time, and most particularly in recent years. The Sous Voile releases show this most dramatically, but the 2022 Pinot Noir and this Chardonnay under the Cri de Coeur labels (as in, Cri de Coeur but not Cri de Coeur Sous Voile) are also seriously good wines. This is light, strict and tense – it’s effectively quartz-like – but it also shows ripe nectarine fruit, and lemongrass, and hay, and nougat, and bacon, and roasted cashew characters. Its elegance and flavour, strung on a taut line, the drawing in of the finish then flashed with chalk, though the flavour continues to pulse on. It’s a fantastic chardonnay.

Andrew Graham | 95 points
Estate fruit was wild fermented and matured in French barriques. 50% went through malo. Delicate and appley, this light-touch style has lovely delicate apple and lifts of apple cream with waves of whipped white butter and clever acidity. Saline and so fresh—really finessed without being too taut or lean. I hate the word minerally, but gee, this has it. The Pinot is arguably the better wine, but this is deliciously refined drink is what I’d finish first. Best drinking: you could open it now, but the sweet spot is probably 2 years away. 18.7/20, 95/100. 13%, $95. Would I buy it? Also yes.

Wine Pilot | Andrea Pritzker | 93 points
Subtle bouquet, hints of struck-match, gunflint and lemon zest. Tightly wound displaying hints of lemon, grapefruit and white peach. Very precisely structured with a linear backbone of acidity. Finishes long with hints of toast to the close. Checks all the boxes but needs time to unfurl.

Ralph Kyte- Powell | 93 points
Mid yellow-straw in colour. This is a chardonnay of some power and complexity, even at a tender age. It has melon, stewed apple, oatmeal and yeasty notes on the nose, and the palate is rich in flavour, smooth and quite powerful with a long lip-smacking finish. In style this admirably treads a fine line between traditional Mornington Peninsula and new-wave styles with great success.

Jane Faulkner | 95 points
Of all the chardonnays from Crittenden, this has a specific DNA. While there’s winemaking at play – the rich, sweet, cedary oak especially – there’s always a savoury overlay, almost a button-mushroom character. Tangy, juicy fruit rolled in spice, baked apples too; the fuller-bodied palate is fleshed out by nougat-lemon-curd lees and, of course, the oak. This needs time to open up and be served with food to see it at its best.