Alpine Vineyard, Chardonnay, 2022
Alpine’s Purissima shale is a touch younger (just ten million years or so) than neighbouring Horseshoe, and the difference it makes in the two wines is as clear an indicator of terroir as you’ll find anywhere. Mere metres separate the two vineyards, but the two wines are entirely different beasts. Always a wine of architecture, the real USP of Alpine is the way it grows through the finish – a chameleonic peacock’s tail that haunts the palate long after the wine’s left it. The 2022 is a touch more expressive at this stage than usual, with golden citrus fruit and plenty of flowing, glowing fruit, lemon curd and briny marine notes, but at heart, this is a wine of energy and snap, with an unmistakably huge Alpine finish!
critic reviews
As is typical with this site in both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the 2022 Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard opens on a shy note before ceaselessly escalating in dimension and complexity. The nose combines the site's signature bright, lifted fragrance with intense but ethereal orchard fruit aromas and ever-increasing chalky, saline flourishes. The palate is plush yet pliable, with great dexterity and balance that transitions to a taut yet layered finish of focused, structured acidity and delicious, bright, clean citrus tinges. It is a beautiful showing that combines electric energy with alluring nuance.
The 2022 Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard is quite a bit more closed than the Horseshoe Chardonnay, as it always is. Spice, chamomile, dried pear, lemon peel and graphite nuances open with some coaxing. The 2022 possesses superb persistence and a long, clean finish that is hard to capture fully with words. It's a wine of subtlety more than anything else.