Vasse Felix - Launch Heytesbury Chardonnay 2024
Former Houghton winemaker, the lateral thinking Lance Parkin, has a cult following for his small-batch well reviewed wines. Twelve wines from Margaret River, The Great Southern, The Perth Hills and Geographe - all precision-made, provenance-driven and in very limited quantities.
“…this could be the finest Heytesbury yet.”
99 Points, Ray Jordan
Could this be the vintage that surpasses:
the Halliday White Wine of the Year 2023 (99 points) or even the legendary 2010, one of the most awarded wines in Australian history (11 national trophies)?
This is a rare opportunity to experience it alongside a benchmark line-up of Vasse Felix wines - including flagship releases and a 10-year museum Heytesbury.
Fresh from remarkable recognition at the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion Awards, Vasse Felix is at the peak of Australian wine:
Virginia Willcock – Winemaker of the Year
2023 Heytesbury Chardonnay – White Wine of the Year &
Chardonnay of the Year (99 points)
Now, the 2024 release arrives with extraordinary anticipation - and exceptional early critical reviews
Sunday, May 17th
Hosted by Evan Gill, Vasse Felix Sommelier
Lunch: 12-3pm, 10 Wines & 4 courses $195
Masterclass: 4-6pm, 10 Wines with Kate Lamont’s nibbles $115
What the critics think…
2024 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay
99 Points, Ray Jordan, rayjordanwine.com.au
98 Points, Jeni Port, winepilot.com
97 Points, Aaron Brasher, therealreview.com
97 Points, Ryan Montgomery, jamessuckling.com
2022 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec
98 Points, Ray Jordan, rayjordanwine.com.au
98 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
98 Points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
97 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion 2026
2016 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay
98 Points, Huon Hooke, therealreview.com
97 Points, James Halliday, winecompanion.com.au
97 Points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
The Wine List & Menu
First Course
2023 Idée Fixe Premier Brut, Our Price $54
Light yellow colour; very fine chardonnay nose, clean and precise, with beeswax and lemon. Tense, refined, crisp and long on the palate. A very subtle toastiness. Taut, tensioned, dry finish—lovely line and length.
93 Points, Huon Hooke, therealreview.com (September 2025)
Shark Bay whiting, tempura fennel, lemon
Second Course
2025 Vasse Felix Filius Sauvignon Blanc (New Release), Our Price $28
This is punchy with flavour and aroma. It’s not wan, that’s for sure. Guava and tropical fruit, lemongrass, apples and citrus. There’s body to this wine. The flavours hit and hold. After round after round of action it finishes dry.
92 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Winefront (April 2026)
2023 Vasse Felix Premier Sauvignon Blanc, Our Price $32
Yes, there’s a touch of colour, an amber-gold, and appealing chewy phenolics because this is fermented wild in French oak foudres and puncheons, with a portion of skin-contact. This creates all that texture and grip and interest. It’s not a fruity, tropical, boring drink, it’s complex, smokin’ and an excellent food wine. It’s all savoury, and more about the palate with raw quince tannins, dabs of spice, crisp acidity and finishes very dry. Sure, it’s not for everyone, just more for me then.
95 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion (April 2025)
Salmon, walnut tarator, labneh
Third Course
2025 Vasse Felix Filius Chardonnay, Our Price $28
A tight and tidy Filius, this vintage, with sea spray and lemon saline, dabs of barely ripe white nectarine and some grapefruit. There’s texture and mouth-watering acidity, so it’s super refreshing. Don’t overthink it. Chill, not too much, and pour.
93 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion (April 2026)
2024 Vasse Felix Premier Chardonnay, Our Price $43
100 Best Australian Wines 2025, Matthew Jukes
What a great release, fresh and mineral yet showing a touch of the sun from the warmer vintage. Aromas of Meyer lemons, oyster shell, shortbread, crushed river stones and grapefruit pith. The refined palate is tightly wound with focused acidity and underlying power that will only develop. So much generosity with a hint of funk, pure drive and a precise, compact style. Excellent.
96 Points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (July 2025)
95 Points, Ray Jordan, rayjordanwine.com.au
95 Points, Jane Faulkner, winecompanion.com.au (March 2026)
95 Points, Jeni Port, winepilot.com (March 2026)
95 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Winefront (April 2026)
2024 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay (Global release 1st May), Our Price $134
#2 of 88, 2024 Chardonnay from Margaret River, The Real Review
An extraordinary wine of tension, energy and power. It’s the result of the earliest vintage on record at Vasse Felix, with the fruit being picked on 17 January. It's a wine of power and generosity, yet the subtle secondary characters in here really do strike a complex note. It's made predominantly from the Gingin clone and shows generosity, but typically lively acidity is there, and that wild fermentation adds richness and density. The aromas are a mix of brioche, subtle lemon curd, and cashew. But then there's a bright minerality. The palate is almost lavish, yet it's held tightly with that fine linear precision and crisp acidity. These wines have certainly become slightly more generous in recent years and allow the full expression of the Gingin clone from these distinct sites. It's another outstanding wine. Dare I say it, but this could be the finest Heytesbury yet.
99 Points, Ray Jordan, rayjordanwine.com.au (2026)
98 Points, Jeni Port, winepilot.com (March 2026)
97 Points, Aaron Brasher, therealreview.com (March 2026)
97 Points, Ryan Montgomery, jamessuckling.com (November 2025)
97 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (April 2026)
2016 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay (10-Year Museum Release), Our Price $134
#1 of 97, 2016 Chardonnay from Margaret River, The Real Review
This has a youthful, bright, light yellow colour with a bright, fresh, citrusy fruit and subtly smoky bouquet, while the palate is high-acid and tangy, very zesty and appealingly nervy, with marvellously refined fruit intensity. The palate is seamless and refined, with great line and delicacy, and prodigious length. A great wine - an Australian grand cru. Outstanding.
98 Points, Huon Hooke, therealreview.com (October 2017)
97 Points, James Halliday, winecompanion.com.au (June 2021)
97 Points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (December 2017)
17.5/20 Points, Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com (September 2022)
Braised lentils, roasted carrot, chèvre
Fourth Course
2023 Vasse Felix Filius Cabernet Sauvignon, Our Price $28
Consistently one of the best cabernets from WA. It's designed to express its best qualities as a young wine, with its brightness and energy immediately apparent… Smooth and seamlessly structured with a sublimely elegant expressive palate. It's medium-bodied with a fine boned structure.
94 Points, Ray Jordan, rayjordanwine.com.au
94 Points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (July 2025)
92 Points, Jane Faulkner, winecompanion.com.au (April 2025)
2023 Vasse Felix Premier Cabernet Sauvignon, Our Price $53
#2 of 42, 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River, The Real Review
Cabernet has been the focus for the last 51 years, and the results show. From a great vintage, this wine has elegance, poise, and medium weight — just as Tom Cullity sought from the start in 1967. Loaded with black fruits, seamlessly integrated oak and tannin, and impeccable balance. A cracking wine that marks the next phase of Vasse Felix cabernet.
97 Points, Ray Jordan, rayjordanwine.com.au
96 Points, Huon Hooke, therealreview.com (November 2025)
95 Points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (July 2025)
2022 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity, Our Price $188
#3 of 42, 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Blends from Margaret River
This is a superb wine. It's elegant, balanced, and beautifully presented... The palate is beautifully integrated and woven with fine, silky chalky tannins and fine-grained oak in support... A wine that is both pretty and powerful, with refinement and elegance. Perhaps the most seamless and perfectly integrated of all the Toms.
98 Points, Ray Jordan, WA Wine Review
The 2022 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec is superb. The season was fantastic and has been responsible for many excellent wines, wines that are both plush and precise, detailed and approachable in their youth. In character, it could be compared to the 2018 vintage for its balance and grace. Here, the tannins speak of sweet tobacco and flaked milk chocolate, bay leaf, nori and even a hint of sandalwood through the finish. The fruit is right on the raspberry spectrum, and it additionally offers notes of blood plum, cassis and mulberry. This is a superstar wine.
98 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (October 2025)
98 Points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (July 2025)
97 Points, Jane Faulkner, winecompanion.com.au (September 2025)
97 Points, Stuart Knox, therealreview.com, (January 2026)
97 Points, Huon Hooke, therealreview.com (September 2025)