Suckfizzle Chardonnay 2023

Flavour never goes out of style but it’s arguable that in the high-quality Australian chardonnay stakes the race is on to pack in more. Indeed most of the best Australian chardonnays of the past few years have been brimful of it. This chardonnay from Suckfizzle in Margaret River is exactly in that mould, and both because of that and because of its line and its complexity it’s a ripper. It tastes of grapefruit and green pineapple, struck match, citrus and brine, and the thing really is that the acidity itself seems injected with flavour, as does the creaminess of the mouthfeel, as does the smoky sizzle of the aftertaste. Add to that a finish that is a beach of citrus, brine, smoke, lemongrass and kelp, and what we have here is a wonderful wine. 96/100.

Campbell Mattinson

This post was written by Campbell Mattinson. Mattinson is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of The Winefront business. He is the author of five books on wine – four of which were bestsellers (The Wine Hunter, the Big Red Wine Book 2008, the Big Red Wine Book 2009, and the Big Red Wine Book 2010).

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson, who is 100% independent, has tasted between 5000 and 10,000 wines each and every year for the past 25 years. He tastes blind, in comparative brackets, as often as is practicable.

Campbell Mattinson is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic. In all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
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