Tasting Report: Exciting Aussie Chardonnays
Top Australian Chardonnay shows wonderful raciness and tension that reminds me of what the best of Burgundy can offer in the key appellations of the Cote d’Or. It’s that steely, bright acidity with ripe and subtle fruit, not to mention a light combination of new wood and lees. I found this in all my top scoring #realaussiewine Chardonnays in this report.
It’s hard to make generalizations about regions. Yes. I tend to prefer Chards from cooler climate areas such as Great Southern and Yarra Valley. They have a vibrancy that really grabs your attention. However, I think it just gets down to serious winemaking. Wine producers such as Marchand & Burch, Bass Phillip, Giant Steps, Vasse Felix, and Giaconda seem to strive for a contrast of intensity and flavor and subtlety and finesse in their Chardonnays.
I find it amusing how some critics are complaining about the lean and hard style of Australian Chardonnay, almost being melancholy about the decline in the production of full throttle and oily Aussie Chardonnays. I never liked those fat and uninteresting whites. I don’t think one style of Chardonnay exists in Oz anyway – just like other types of wines. Fellow blogger and taster Ned Goodwin agrees.
Try to get your hand on some of my top scoring Chardonnays here.
Also tasted, but not receiving marks of 90 points or more:
2010 Best's Chardonnay Great Western 2010 Ten Minutes By Tractor Chardonnay Mornington Penninsula 10X 2010 Eldridge Estate Chardonnay Mornington Penninsula 2008 Savaterre Chardonnay Beechworth 2006 Tyrrells Wines Chardonnay Hunter Valley Vat 47 2009 Seville Estate Chardonnay Yarra Valley 2009 Cockfighter's Ghost Chardonnay Hunter Valley 2010 Tower Estate Chardonnay Hunter Valley 2010 Kooyong Chardonnay Mornington Penninsula 2009 Willow Creek Chardonnay Mornington Penninsula 2009 Ten Minutes by Tractor Chardonnay Mornington Penninsula Wallis 2009 Pike and Joyce Chardonnay Adelaide Hills 2010 McHenry Hohnen Chardonnay Margaret River Rocky Road Vineyard 2010 Robert Oatley Chardonnay Mudgee 2010 Tarrington Vineyards Chardonnay Henty 2010 Coldstream Hills Chardonnay Yarra Valley 2010 Freycinet Vineyard Chardonnay Tasmania 2010 Yering Station Chardonnay Yarra Valley Village 1989 Tyrrells Wines Chardonnay Hunter Valley Vat 47 2010 A. Rodda Chardonnay Beechworth 2009 Moorooduc Estate Chardonnay Mornington Penninsula 2009 Coates Chardonnay Adelaide Hills 2009 Stella Bella Chardonnay Margaret River 2009 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay Margaret River Prelude Vineyards 2009 Higher Plane Chardonnay Margaret River South by Southwest 2010 Frankland Estate Chardonnay Great Southern Franklin River Region Isolation Ridge Vineyard 2011 Best's Chardonnay Great Western 2011 Meera Park Chardonnay Hunter Valley Alexander Munro 2010 Bird on a Wire Chardonnay Yarra Valley 2010 Heemskerk Chardonnay Tasmania 2010 Ocean Eight Chardonnay Mornington Penninsula Verve 2010 Howard Park Chardonnay Great Southern Mount Barker Flint Rock 2006 Heydon Estate Chardonnay Margaret River The Willow Single Vineyard 2006 Josef Chromy Chardonnay Tasmania Zdar 2008 Voyager Estate Chardonnay Margaret River 2010 Robert Oatley Chardonnay Mudgee James Oatley Tic Tok 2010 Giant Steps Chardonnay Yarra Valley Innocent Bystander 2009 Stella Bella Chardonnay Margaret River Serie Luminosa 2009 Harewood Chardonnay Great Southern 2009 Bellvale Chardonnay Gippsland Athena's Vineyard 2009 Holyman Chardonnay Tasmania Holyman 2010 Heggies Chardonnay Eden Valley 2009 Three Hills Chardonnay Margaret River 2010 Josef Chromy Chardonnay Tasmania 2010 Mc Henry Hohnen Chardonnay Margaret River Burnside 2010 Mc Henry Hohnen Chardonnay Margaret River Calgardup Brook Vineyard