Chardonnay, long held to be one of the two most noble white varieties in the world along with Riesling, is sadly a tad out of fashion in Australia at the moment! For a long time, Chardonnay producers here were making wines of very high alcohol, sweet fruit and overpowering oak- essentially flavour bombs with little finesse. Thankfully, a more modern style of Chardonnay is coming to the fore in Australia, one of far more restrained use of oak and better levels of acidity to balance Chardonnay’s naturally riper flavours. Our Yarra Valley Chardonnay is firmly in this school of winemaking, showing intelligent oak handling from a highly prominent Yarra Valley winemaker. We were very lucky to get this wine as the vineyard it hails from narrowly escaped heat and smoke damage last year. It is a balanced, elegant Chardonnay with melon and citrus flavours. It shows a delicious buttery character from malolactic fermentation, beautifully integrated and subtle oak, and an impressively long and lean finish.
