Chardonnay blind-tasting, with a few reds for contrast. Given there were just the eight of us, how on earth did we manage to get fourteen bottles on the table? And a couple of back-ups went home unopened as well!
- 2019 Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru Extra Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
{cork, 12.5%} [Geoffrey] ‘Assemblage Base Vendange 2019’ the back label says. 48 months on lees, disgorged July-24. Dosage 2g/l. Surprisingly dark in colour and very mature-tasting. I actually think this was probably oxidised to a degree, but recently enough bottled that it’s still quite satisfying, if a bit disconcerting. Bread and cheese on the nose. Some apple/citrus on the medium-weight palate. Medium/large creamy bubbles, low/medium acid. Decent heft on mid-palate, medium length finish. I see from previous versions of this GC cuvee that I thought them very mature as well – perhaps it’s the style. Nice enough, but I’d be afraid to keep this long. - 2018 Lethbridge Wines Chardonnay Allegra - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong
{screwcap, 13.8%} [Greg] Classy, mildly-developing nose of figs, oak, matchstick. Intense but balanced. High tensile palate, with still-embryonic fruit combining sour fruit and quality oak. Medium weight but persistent. Medium long, savoury finish. At start of drinking window, but there’s no hurry. Very impressive. - 2022 Bodega Bouza Chardonnay Las Espinas - Uruguay, Maldonado
{cork, 13%} [Geoffrey] Subtle stone-fruit, gentle oak. A steely hint to the flavours, very pure with oak only a seasoning contribution. Rockmelon-edged flavours. Medium weight and length, fresh acid. Super impressive, barely behind the first wine for quality. No-one seriously picked it as Uruguay!, although the local price is ~A$120, which pretty intimidating. Ignoring that, it’s excellent, and should improve easily over five or so years. - 2006 Mount Mary Chardonnay - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
{diam, 13.5%} [Graeme] A couple of Rotters thought this burgundy amidst the blind options, but its also fully mature, if not a bit past best. Sweet cake, broad yellow tropical fruit, hint of cheese. More of a vanilla-bean character on the medium weight palate, but tropical flavours too. Still, it’s very mature. Medium/long finish. A bit polarising around the table given it was far and away the oldest wine of the night; if you’ve more, drink up. - 2021 Grosset Chardonnay Piccadilly - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Piccadilly Valley
{screwcap, 13.5%} [Paul] Clean, linear, faint oak, polished nose and palate, grapefruit, peachy fruit flavours. Oak isn’t overt, but underpins the texture. Medium weight wine all round, very youthful still. Even palate, medium length finish. Good drinking for a decade, certainly. - 2022 Deep Woods Estate Chardonnay Reserve - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
{screwcap, 13%} [Gordon] Was served perhaps a bit cold; mostly it was oak I found on the nose. The palate is medium/full in weight, with a malo-driven, oak-seasoned buttery richness. Not quite old-style Oz vanilla-slice chardonnay, but hints at the memory a bit! Dry, medium length finish. Better in the shorter term I think. - 2021 Rikard Chardonnay Black Label - Australia, New South Wales, Central Ranges, Orange
{screwcap, 12.2%} [DavidH] Bottle 1091. Tropical aromas, with soft vanilla oak. A rich sort of nose. Palate is quite tangy though, with orange/honey richness, sweet oak, although it’s only barely medium weight really. Dry finish, medium length. Better in the short term I think. - 2023 Marchand and Burch Chardonnay Mount Barker - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Mount Barker
{screwcap, 12.5%} [Sian] Youthful and a little understated after all that has come before. Fresh, subtle nose – gentle oak. Fleshy mango fruit flavours, medium weight, subtle malo & oak. Dry, even and medium-length finish. Very young and needs a little time to blossom a bit. - 2023 Bradley Hutton Chardonnay Wildberry Springs Estate - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
{screwcap} [Andrew] Also very young. Grapefruit and vanilla bean. Ripe-tasting, but not too warm. Rich palate but soft; gentle acid only here. Medium weight at most; probably a shorter term prospect. - 2012 Tim Adams Shiraz The Aberfeldy - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
{screwcap, 14.5%} [DavidH] Decanted two hours earlier. Very Clare nose of eucalypt, herb, mint. And some sweet oak. Velvety rich full-bodied palate, verging on over-ripe, with raisins, liquorice and mint. Tannins seem fully resolved, low-level style, and it has low/medium acidity. Although it’s not hot on the palate, it is a touch hollow on the medium-length finish, and although quite impressive I doubt there’s further development here. - 2021 Curtis Family Vineyards Shiraz Small Batch - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
{screwcap, 14.5%} [Andrew] Just a plain pale-blue label with no markings? Odd! Youthful nose of big blue-tinged fruit, liquorice. Soft palate, low/medium acidity, not much tannin either, but velvety rich ripe plum and blue fruit with some seasoning oak. Doesn’t have a lot of personality, but it’s very young – it will be a matter of balancing development - 2020 Curtis Family Vineyards Shiraz Martins Vineyard - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
{screwcap, 14%} [Andrew] Dark, malty aromas. Liquorice and black fruit on the palate, medium weight, low/medium chalky tannins, low/medium acid. Finely balanced oak. Plenty of flavour, not over-ripe, and an even flavour presence on the mid-palate. Medium length finish. Classy warm-climate shiraz that should age well over a decade. - 2018 Robert Oatley Cabernet Sauvignon The Pennant - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Frankland River
{screwcap, 14.5%} [Andrew] Developing nose of leathery fruit; very cabernet palate of herb, black fruit and a lick of mint. Medium acidity, low/medium faintly gritty tannins. It’s about medium weight, quite worked in some ways; the medium length palate is quite even but doesn’t have huge intensity to it. This is pretty good overall, and although it’ll keep for five to eight years easily enough I don’t think there’s a lot of evolution still to come. - 2019 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Sémillon - Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina
{screwcap, 10%} [Geoffrey] This wine always seems to show better from these 750ml bottles – this was very good. Copper and bronze aromas, tinged with vanilla bean. Adds caramel, honey and faint apricot on the palate. Medium weight and medium sweetness. Well-balanced palate, medium long finish; seemed better balanced that the 375ml from June last year. Close to peak though, even in this format.
