TN: Killerby Chardonnay 2011 (Margaret River)

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

I've purchased Killerby's chardonnay in many years over the last 15 or more. 2011 was a top vintage in MR, and I put a few away and largely ignored them. The chardonnay, for my money, has always been the best of the Killerby portfolio, and these days they are marketed alongside Ferngrove Wines from the Great Southern.

Yellow in colour, with gold tinges. A highly expressive nose with somewhat developed stonefruits alongside cedary oak / grilled nuts. There's also a fairly fresh peach aroma on top of this, giving it a slight tang. The palate has a slightly buttery texture alongside the up-front fruit. Acid and oak both play an important but supporting role.

There's an overall balance to this wine, in some ways making it difficult to separate individual characters. The whole, however, is delicious, and I reckon this is probably a good age to be drinking them.

This is yet another chardonnay that dispels a grand statement I made many years ago about Aussie chardonnay not going past 5 years of age

Cheers
Allan

[Waiters Friend]

Nearly two years on, this is still looking pretty good. Primary fruit has largely diminished, and there's some delightful savoury notes alongside the developed characters. Acid is still keeping some freshness and it's still got some life in it. Not likely to improve, though.

[Dragzworthy]

G'day

I've purchased Killerby's chardonnay in many years over the last 15 or more. 2011 was a top vintage in MR, and I put a few away and largely ignored them. The chardonnay, for my money, has always been the best of the Killerby portfolio, and these days they are marketed alongside Ferngrove Wines from the Great Southern.

Yellow in colour, with gold tinges. A highly expressive nose with somewhat developed stonefruits alongside cedary oak / grilled nuts. There's also a fairly fresh peach aroma on top of this, giving it a slight tang. The palate has a slightly buttery texture alongside the up-front fruit. Acid and oak both play an important but supporting role.

There's an overall balance to this wine, in some ways making it difficult to separate individual characters. The whole, however, is delicious, and I reckon this is probably a good age to be drinking them.

This is yet another chardonnay that dispels a grand statement I made many years ago about Aussie chardonnay not going past 5 years of age

Cheers
Allan

Always good to be proven wrong in these instances!

I think a lot of the Margaret River Chardonnay made in the last decade has a lot of stuffing to go for a while.

[Mahmoud Ali]

I think a lot of the Margaret River Chardonnay made in the last decade has a lot of stuffing to go for a while.

Completely agree.

A week to ten days after buying some 2013 Devil's Lair Chardonnay a friend served me the 2012 vintage. It was served blind and I thought it was a superb expression of chardonnay and was chuffed when it was revealed. The Devel's Lair website said tthe 2013 was a 10 year wine and based on the 2012 that I drank I have no reason to disagree.

Mahmoud.

[Dragzworthy]

I think a lot of the Margaret River Chardonnay made in the last decade has a lot of stuffing to go for a while.

Completely agree.

A week to ten days after buying some 2013 Devil's Lair Chardonnay a friend served me the 2012 vintage. It was served blind and I thought it was a superb expression of chardonnay and was chuffed when it was revealed. The Devel's Lair website said tthe 2013 was a 10 year wine and based on the 2012 that I drank I have no reason to disagree.

Mahmoud.

The other area that's really exciting me is Beechworth in Victoria. Obviously Giaconda will be well known to many but I think Sorrenberg is the best Chardonnay I've had out of Australia. These wines remind me a lot of some of the better Burgundy whites from Meursault or Puligny Montrachet. Sorrenberg is very hard to find but well worth trying if you can get your hands on it. I think the 2018 will be spectacular with some bottle age on it.

[Waiters Friend]

We did a vertical of Devils Lair in the last 3 months (the notes got lost so you didn't get to see this here), and the chardonnay back to 2010 were all still fine, with only the 2010 starting to look slightly tired. It seems MR chardonnay is a good five to ten year proposition, depending on how developed you like them.

I also have to concur with the comments about Beechworth, with Sorrenberg looking very good young. I'm not convinced its a long-term proposition, and we enjoy them up to 3 years.