The Auswine Forum

Gavin here, with a 'seemingly' not quite so unusual Chardonnay request.

I have just had a customer seeking from me a recommendation for a really

Old Fashioned, typically buttery,oaky, full malo influence

style of Chardonnay.

This is not the first such request I've had for a wine like this, and find it very hard to answer, as not many of this style of chards are made any more ... well, at least to my knowledge.

Can anyone help, can anyone let me know Chardonnays that are still made in this style?

Value anyone's input and experience here?

.

http://www.elgeeparkwines.com.au/chard02.htm
http://www.winefront.com.au/elgee-park- ... nnay-2008/
http://www.baillieuvineyard.com.au/chard.htm
http://www.winefront.com.au/baillieu-vi ... nnay-2008/

etc.

GW

Best I have had recently was the Dixon Creek 2006. Old school yet still fresh.

cheers

Carl

Gary W wrote:http://www.elgeeparkwines.com.au/chard02.htm
http://www.winefront.com.au/elgee-park- ... nnay-2008/
http://www.baillieuvineyard.com.au/chard.htm
http://www.winefront.com.au/baillieu-vi ... nnay-2008/

etc.

GW

Blow I can't read the reviews. Are you able to cut and paste over the two wine reviews. I am interested to see what you think

Just popped that same question to my colleague who's a big wooded chardy fan...

http://www.nepenthe.com.au/go/our-wines ... chardonnay

Apparently, so yum that she and her husband just wanted another bottle and forget about dinner!


Cheers.
Ray

rooman wrote:Blow I can't read the reviews. Are you able to cut and paste over the two wine reviews. I am interested to see what you think

Not that interested though, obviously. They were for Gavin's reference - he can access them.
GW

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Thanks everyone so far.

Its actually much harder than you may think, especially if the customer wants the true old fashioned style, really oaky, buttery, butterscotch style.

These are rare, it seems to me, these days.

Of course, I also have to be able to access the wines for the customer, but one step at a time!

(I know of a couple of quite expensive ones that fit the bill!)

.

What about some of the Hunter labels. Allandale? Alanmere (doe this label still exist)?

Lindemans Bin 65

Cheers

Michael

Main Ridge - our chardonnay is 100% barrel fermented in new French oak barriques, lees stirred without sulphur dioxide for 11 months, & complete malo–lactic conversion. Natural yeasts are utilized to produce complex & individual wine.

milky wrote:Just popped that same question to my colleague who's a big wooded chardy fan...

http://www.nepenthe.com.au/go/our-wines ... chardonnay

Apparently, so yum that she and her husband just wanted another bottle and forget about dinner!


Cheers.
Ray

I second this recommendation - I thought the '06 was malo'd & wooded to buggery when I tried it last year.

Cape Mentelle used to make them this style too - vanilla & cinnamon toast drenched in butter, although I haven't tried one for a few years...

Cheers,
Ian

Yering Station Reserve tends to be in the bigger style as well. Or the one I had at least!

Cape Mentelle are in the modern style these days, and rather good.

Most have that crisp acid profile these days, I started on that big rich style and enjoyed it at the time, but limited appeal now. Agree with Nepenthe, but hard to think of any others personally, other than Huntington Estate.

Enjoying a Devils Lair 2008 ATM!! Not traditional, just yum.

Cheers
TiggerK

The Moss Wood Chardonnay is still an old school, malo, heaily oaked chardonnay. Quite a fan actually

A tough one. The best example I can recall of this was a Saxonvale (remember them?) Hunter from 1988

Seriously, if you can source it, I reckon the Upper Reach winery in the Swan Valley does this pretty well (their Reserve Chardonnay). I got some for a friend who was asking for precisely the characteristics you're looking for, and vintage variation doesn't seem to be huge. They don't age especially well, although the winery releases back vintages, and 3-4 years is about it. It seems to sell out year after year, however.

Scarborough Yellow Label Chardonnay - white label if you leave it for a year or so
Paringa 'The Paringa' Chardonnay
Moorooduc Estate 'The Moorooduc' Chardonnay

I reckon a number of the kiwi chardonnays still meet this description. One of the best is the Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay. Also Coopers Creek Swamp Reserve Hawkes Bay Chardonnay. Because they are more cool climate, the acid levels carry this style much better than their Australian counterparts.

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Sean I thought cool climate chardonnays were typically less oaky and less malo, and more acid?

I would have thought that Hunter or Barossa would be likely to bring out the big oak monsters that Gavin's customer is looking for...

Sean O'Sullivan wrote:Rooman, not disagreeing with the idea of suggesting Kiwi chardys. But I think Mornington Peninsula is still regarded as a genuine cool-climate wine region, which is where the chardys that I suggested are from.

Sean

Sadly I seem to be drinking less chardonnays nowadays so perhaps I should have said nothing. Nothing deliberate, just seems we drink about 80% riesling at home at present. To me Mornington is Stonier and I recall that as more refined than was suggested above. Actually there are a ton of chardonnays I would like to try particularly Kooyong. I would also like to try more Rousanne from the Rhone and whites from Italy. So many bottles, so little time.

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I think most Chardonnays have been toned down over the years, rather like the reducing salt levels in Vegemite.
Best bigger style I have had recently was Huntington Estate Barrel Fermented 2006. Tim Stevens likes the bigger style so most vintages tend to be made in this manner. He thinks the pendulum has swung too far towards the more crisp, austere sort of wines. My palate agrees with him and thus I drink far less chardonnay than I used to. When I do, more often than not it is Bin 65!

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M3 is a more elegant, leaner style.

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I think all the Kumeu River Chardies go through full malo. The winemaker was adamant that the Estate is definitely full malo, so I will assume they all are.

Sean, I remember having bought a couple of bottles of St Huberts chardy at CD in Dec 2000, possibly 98 vintage? I still remember sharing a bottle with the elder of my bros and his wife. I loved it, would've forgotten it otherwise. Stonier (not Reserve) 05? is another I've enjoyed in the past too. I'll also mention Wise Pemberton Reserve 05 which I preferred to the Brokenwood Indigo 05 I bought at the same time because the Wise was more full-bodied than the Brokenwood. But - according to Halliday the Indigo(Beechworth Vic) 08 is a cracker with barrel ferment characters in the flavour profile. Still, probably more in the "modern" style than Gavin's client is looking for.

Cheers

daz

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