2019 Gusbourne Guinevere Chardonnay

Soft straw colour, the rim watery but not lacking for viscosity. An attractive nose of papaya, mango and poached pear, hints of vanillin deferring to the wood and a lick of spice. The palate is once again finely judged, vestigial lees evidenced with hints of sourdough and brioche, impressively entwined with ripe fruit, both citric and modestly exotic, and a Burgundian sense of place; the place in question being Kent! 91 points

Tasted blind. NHB. Green melon. Matcha cream, greengages in cinnamon syrup. Quite an exciting nose that is much more expressive when the wine is around 14 °C (57 °F). Beautiful oak – tastes expensive. Fine, sandalwood, almost smoky, almost cardamom, almost pepper. Mollis pepper. Green apple and white pear dipped in za’atar. Pretty damn sophisticated. Calm. Lean but balanced and with good forward focus. This has breeding… 17.5 points

Really quite classy, a delicate mealiness and ground white nut richness is pitched without too much spice and toast for the fruit. Avoids youthful esters/peardrops and shoots for genuine white peach and pear fruit. More English on the palate than the nose, slightly nervous and cool but still attractive with a candied lemon length. Very good, especially for 2019. 91 points