Domaine Naturaliste Artus Chardonnay 2021

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
96+/100 punten
The 2021 season was a challenging one for many producers. A cool lead up to harvest was punctuated by a series of rain events throughout February, which, coupled with the cloud cover (a feature of the season), caused some headaches. However, as further proof (like we needed it) that one must never write off a vintage, the wines I have tasted from this year—particularly the Chardonnays—have been excellent quality, as this unequivocally is. It is sleek, glassy and svelte, defined by cool acid and a mineral spool of phenolic tension. So, this 2021 Artus Chardonnay is exactly that. It is nuanced and detailed, mineral and rocky, shaped as it is by malolactic fermentation and rich, toasty oak. It's gently reductive, pillowy and cushioned yet precise and tight. Gotta love that southern acidity. It is still coming together. It will be so much better in a year or more. I love this wine.

Wine Pilot
96/100 punten
This is a wine that lets you know when it’s arrived at the doorstep. The yang to the yin of the Purus, this wine is full of buttery malo notes, wild yeast and grape solids with 10 months of monthly battonage and time sur lie. There’s abundant toasty Allier oak, but with a shimmering body of concentrated and powerful Wilyabrup fruit operating as the current that pulls this wine along. This is an old-school Chardonnay that packs a punch. Parmesan rind, ripe stone fruit, nutmeg, autolytic notes, crushed cashew nuts and a rounded generous and plush mouthfeel with a quiver of acidity keeping it fresh and energetic. The fruit is evenly weighted across the palate and amongst all of that oak it has a delicacy to it, purity and sweetness of character. This is an opaque wine – it’s dense with flavour, supple and there’s nothing to hide. Spherical in shape, you can see its curves from all angles. It’s confident and gorgeous – the epitome of a femme fatale resplendent with curves, shoulder pads, heels and red lippy. This wine knows what it is and is unashamed in flaunting all that it has going for it. There are so many reasons to applaud, not least the length that rivals that of Elton John’s farewell tour: it goes on and on, and for good reason. Every sip leaves you aching for more.

Wine Front
95/100 punten
Let it roll, baby roll. Artus at the bolder end of Margaret River Chardonnay, but invariably very good at it. Nashi pear, peach, cinnamon and clove, honey and fennel, cheese rind. It’s powerful, a little buttery and spicy, but tight in citrus acidity, with a grainy grip, green mango and melon, spicy and powerful on a long finish. All the things. Excellent.

James Halliday
95/100 punten
A more worked style than the superb Purus, yet this seduces nonetheless. It’s more disco, with smokin’ sulphides, toasty, cedary oak, a touch of creamed honey and nutty lees with upfront powerful fruit flavour. And yet with all that, the palate is reined in, tight even, crisp acidity strutting its stuff. Best enjoyed dancing to the vinyl of Saturday Night Fever.