Chateau Marmot Chardonnay 2025 – A Natural Okanagan Chardonnay with Plenty of Personality

Chardonnay doesn't always have to be polished and predictable.

The Chateau Marmot Chardonnay 2025 is a completely different expression of the grape.

It is organically farmed, made with minimal intervention and fermented and aged on lees in neutral barrels.

Nothing is added and nothing is removed.

And you can taste that philosophy in the glass.

Chateau Marmot is the project of winemaker Keenan Thrussell, who makes small-production natural wines from organically farmed grapes in the South Okanagan and Similkameen Valley.

The winery works without additions and filtration, allowing the wines to show plenty of character from the fruit and the way they are made.

The 2025 Cawston Chardonnay comes from a particularly interesting vineyard.

The Chardonnay vines are around 26 years old, planted in sandy loam and river stones with untilled soils and indigenous cover crops.

The grapes are whole-cluster pressed directly into neutral barrels, where both fermentation and élevage take place.

The wine is then bottled unfined, unfiltered and without added sulphur.

At around 12% alcohol, it is also a relatively light wine by New World Chardonnay standards.

A funky beginning

The first thing you notice is the nose.

It is funky.

Not dirty or faulty, but definitely not the clean, polished Chardonnay aroma you might expect from a heavily commercial wine.

There is something slightly wild and sweetish going on, with green apple and green pear underneath.

On the palate, the wine becomes much cleaner and more focused.

The acidity is high, giving the Chardonnay plenty of energy.

It is zesty and refreshing, but there is enough texture from the lees aging to give the wine some weight.

It is medium-bodied rather than lean, and the combination of acidity and texture makes it surprisingly interesting.

Green apple and green pear dominate, together with a curious sweet-fresh-corn character.

It is an unusual tasting note, but once I found it, I couldn't stop noticing it.

There is also a gentle sweetness in the overall impression, although the wine itself is not what I would call sweet.

It is more about ripe fruit and texture.

A wine that needs food

This is definitely not the bottle I would choose if I wanted a simple glass of Chardonnay to sip on its own.

It needs food.

The high acidity and natural texture make it much more interesting at the table.

Think roast chicken, grilled fish, shellfish, fresh cheeses or dishes with a little richness.

Something with texture and savoury flavours will give the wine a reason to show what it can do.

And I would serve it very cold.

This is one of those natural wines where temperature matters.

Kept properly chilled, the freshness and acidity become much more pronounced, and the funky character is kept in check.

As it warms up, the wine becomes more expressive and the natural-wine personality becomes much more obvious.

The finish is pleasantly lingering.

For me, it brings back a very specific memory: those small, dark, sweet-and-sour grapes you sometimes find at an Indian fruit stand in the Okanagan.

There is that combination of dark fruit, sweetness and tartness that stays on the palate.

It is an unusual comparison, but wine is often about memories rather than textbook tasting notes.

Is it a classic Chardonnay?

Absolutely not.

And that is the point.

If you are looking for buttery California-style Chardonnay with vanilla, toast and lots of new oak, this isn't it.

Chateau Marmot takes Chardonnay in a much more natural direction, allowing the fruit, acidity, lees texture and fermentation character to speak for themselves.

The wine is not perfectly polished, and I don't think it is trying to be.

There is a slight wildness to it that will appeal to people who enjoy natural wines, while those accustomed to conventional Chardonnay may find it a little strange at first.

For me, it is an interesting wine rather than an outstanding one.

I scored the Chateau Marmot Chardonnay 2025 at 77 points.

It has high acidity, good freshness, a nice lingering finish and a distinctive personality.

But it lacks the precision and complexity that would push it into a higher score for me.

Still, I enjoyed tasting it.

And that is something worth saying about natural wine: sometimes the most memorable bottles are not necessarily the highest-scoring ones.

The Chateau Marmot Chardonnay 2025 is a wine with a point of view.

Keep it cold, put some food on the table, and give it a chance.

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