Ned's Blog: Margaret River - The Paradigm Shift in Australian Chardonnay

October 25th, 2011

James and I are in Margaret River, a small town on Australia's remote western coast. Known for big waves, alternative lifestyle seekers and great white sharks, it was a stunning set of Chardonnays that made for riveting tasting here yesterday. 

While this may seem odd given that the region is known for its lithe Cabernets, Australian Chardonnays are turning heads for their tensile minerality, moderate alcohols and drinkability. They are far from the New World paradigm or, more accurately, contagious clichés that suggest wines with fully blown buttery aromas, toasty new oak and high alcohol.

Of course one can argue that endeavors to craft taut Chardonnays, reliant on ambient yeast and judicious lees handling, goes on around the world; the paradigm shift in the regional Australian expressions has been head-spinning to say the least. While some critics, including myself, have suggested that the zeal for elegance risks anorexic wine styles at times, the best examples are of place and very similar to fine white Burgundy.  

Today we will taste the Cabernet class. We have hundreds lined up!

Ned Goodwin MW is a Master of Wine, sommelier and wine buyer who lives in Tokyo. He is bilingual in Japanese and English. Follow Ned on Twitter at @rednedwine.