Garagiste Merricks Chardonnay 2024 750ml

This is Barney Flanders in top form. The 2024 Merricks Chardonnay is powerful, textural and crackling with energy - arguably the most complete white he’s bottled to date. From his 28-year-old vineyard on the grey loams and red ferrosols of Merricks, this is the boldest of the Garagiste Chardonnays. But don’t expect bluster. Barney has long chased finesse over flash, and that vision continues to sharpen. Picked by hand and pressed as whole bunches, the juice was fermented with plenty of solids in large, seasoned puncheons, then aged on gross lees for 10 months without stirring. Just 15% new oak was used this year - the fruit the star of the show. The 2024 Merricks is a Chardonnay of serious intent. There’s ripe peach and yellow citrus, backed by a chalky phenolic drive, a lick of struck match, and mouth-watering acidity carrying it all through. It’s layered and long, with a kind of effortless density that lingers well after the last sip. This is Barney’s 20th vintage farming the Merricks site, and it shows. The 2024 is a wine of real shape and substance, maybe a little less showy than some previous years, but perhaps a little more complete on release.