Punch Lance’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2023

Written By Campbell Mattinson
Bottle of Mattinson review of Punch Lance’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2023.

Punch Lance’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2023
$45, 12.5% alcohol, screwcap, Yarra Valley

This Yarra Valley chardonnay has been built to improve with age. It has very good flesh though the palate, and the texture to go with it, the flavour profile itself in the white peach, lemon curd, nougat and lime spectrum. But the run of mouthwatering, apple-like acidity running through the finish suggests that this wine will not only hold, but will improve, over the medium term, if not longer. This wine won’t really start to drink at its best for another 3-5 years. Cedarwood oak overtones here are modest but well placed, and help give the impression that the flavours come in layers. All this wine needs is time to soften and mature. 93 points.

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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