The Auswine Forum

Hey all, some debate here and elsewhere prompted this thread.

What are consistently your favourite Chardonnays and Pinots from either NZ OR Australia??

I haven't had too many different vintages of some of my picks, so a small sample set for a few, but these are the ones that have impressed me most for their balance, acid profile, good use of oak and varietal expression. I'm a big fan of Burgundy (not so much the prices and prem-ox though) and like many others here, I despise big extracted heavy fruit Pinots and excessively/badly oaked Chardonnay. Both countries are all too often guilty of both, but there are exceptions of course, we're here to find them and hopefully get a few ideas of others to try.

I'll put mine out there FWIW.

Chardonnay
Giaconda
Kumeu River Mate's
Kumeu River Hunting Hill
Penfolds Yattarna
Lethbridge
Leeuwin Art Series
Cullen Kevin John
Tyrrell's Vat 47

Pinot Noir
Bass Philip Premium
Picardy
Escarpment Pahi
Felton Road Block 3
Rippon
Lethbridge


Cheers
Tim

You pretty much have most of my favourite chards covered, but I'd add By Farr to it.

a few pinots I'd add are;

By Farr - farside & tout pres
Mayer
Curly Flat (but usually needs a bit of age to show well, had the 2004 earlier this week and it was just coming into its window)
Tarrawarra

Fun!

Chardonnay

Serrat (newish, but Tom and Nadege Carson)
Hoddles Creek
Sailor Seeks Horse
Voyager Estate
LEAS
Giaconda
Mayford

Pinot

Serrat (see above)
Mayer - in all its iterations
Curly Flat
Farr
Pegasus Bay
Rippon

Oz producers, in no particular order (except Giaconda)

Chard;
Giaconda
Penfolds Bin A
Penfolds Yattarna
By Farr
Main Ridge

Pinot:
Bass Philip
Mount Mary

grosset chardy and pinot

ashton hills pinot. reserve and estate.

You've pretty much got me covered too on Chardonnay Tim, but I'd sub Vasse Felix Heytesbury for the Cullen, and I'd try to sneak in Lakes Folly or maybe one of the Yabby Lake single vineyards. And possibly Pooley Cooinda, new but old Yattarna fruit and pretty damn good

maybs wrote:You've pretty much got me covered too on Chardonnay Tim, but I'd sub Vasse Felix Heytesbury for the Cullen, and I'd try to sneak in Lakes Folly or maybe one of the Yabby Lake single vineyards. And possibly Pooley Cooinda, new but old Yattarna fruit and pretty damn good

Oh yeah, forgot one
Lakes Folly chard is right up my list

In order of what I consider the best.....

Chardonnay:
1. Leeuwin Estate Art Series
2. Tyrrells Vat 47
3. Flame Tree SRS
4. Holyman
5. Kumeu River Mates
...... best ANZ white? Rippon Riesling!!!!!!

Pinot Noir:
1. Bass Phillip Reserve
2. Tolpuddle
3. Yabby Lake
4. Felton Road Block 3
5. Hoddle's Creek 1er.
........best ANZ red? Woodlands Cabs

Hoddles are my first pick on the pinot list. Definitely my pick for best value pinot. Ten Minutes by Tractor are another personal favourite.

Geez this one is interesting. My list includes what I think are my most memorable bottles. Doesn't mean the wine is that good year in year out but I have had more than one spectacular wine from the producer/vineyard. I'm sure I am missing something fabulous.

Chardonnay
Kumeu River
Giaconda
Bannockburn
LEAS
Polperro


Pinot Noir
Hoddles - 1er
Eldridge estate - Various
Mayer
Pooley - butchers and Cooinda
Escarpment
Ata Rangi

Not in any order

Chardonnay
Oakridge 864 - funder & diamond block
Hoddles Creek - 1er
LEAS
Dawson & James
Tolpuddle
Shaw & Smith M3
Ashbrook Estate
Woodlands

Pinot Noir
Home Hill
Ashton Hills
Giant steps single vineyards (applejack/primavera/sexton ext)
ByFarr sangreal
William Downie (yarra & mornington)

Chard
LEAS
By Farr
Kumeu River
Yarraloch of the few I have tried

Pinot
By Farr
Escarpment
Freycinet

Mmmmm... Another great thread.

Trying to chuck in a couple of lower profile producers, and not in any order.

Chardonnay:

Dappled
Tyrrells
Oakridge
Circe

Pinot's

Curly Flat
Hoddles Creek 1er
Coldstream Hills (SV's)
Garagiste
Mac Forbes
Ten Minutes By Tractor
Giant Steps (SV's)

Very interested to see where the Chardonnay comments go on this thread - despite the Melbourne weather, I'm all out on Chardonnay at the moment.

Some nice selections.
I would add Pierro for chardonnay, Wantirna Estate and Bindi for both chardonnay and Pinot.

Cheers Con.

deleted

I'd add Moorooduc Estate for Pinot

Giaconda
LEAS
Moss Wood
Lakes Folly
Yattarna

Curly Flat
Ashton Hills Reserve
Mayer
Bass Phillip Reserve
Hillcrest Premium

deleted

If I was doing a Top 5 WA I'd probably go with, (LEAS, Moss Wood)

Pierro
VF Heytesbury
Xanadu Reserve

None would knock out Giaconda and Yattarna for me. Only the Heytesbury could knock out the Lakes. (I was tossing up between the two but leaned towards the LF for the personal connection I have with it).

WA for me is the best at getting balance right. They can make a bigger style wine but always rein it in with great balance. They can tend towards blousy-ness if they warm up too much.

Pierro
Moorooduc Estate
Oakridge

Stonier
Pooley
Felton Road

Another vote for Kooyong Chardy - Faultline and Farrago both fantastic. And Moorooduc Pinot from Mornington.

Gembrook Hill and Wanderer Pinot from Yarra.

Flametree SRS Chard from Margaret River.

Freycinet PN, Holyman Chard from Tas.

LEAS
Te Mata Elston
Kumeu River Hunting Hill
Lakes Folly

Main Ridge Half Acre
Schubert Marion's Block
By Farr Tout Pres & Farrside
Bass Premium

And for great bottles but with substantial vintage variation, Epis, Nicholson River and Curly Flat

Flametree SRS - one of the best chardies ever. Captures perfectly imo what chardonnay is.
VF Heytesbury
Woodlands
Voyager Estate

Mayer
Bass Philip Premium
By Farr Sangreal

I'd add Devil's Lair Chardonnay from Margaret River, which was my 2016 white wine of the year, and Sacred Hill's 'Riflemans' Chardoonay from New Zealand.

I had pretty much gone off Chardonnay until a few years ago. Ironically, my interest was revived during Good Beer Week in Melbourne when I attended a lunch two years running where they paired beer and wine with the food. The first one had Ten Minutes By Tractor showing the wines and the second had Kooyong.
More recently, a visit to Domenica a few weeks ago had me excited about their Chardonnay

Most of my favorite Pinots have been covered but I am surprised that nobody has mentioned either Hurley or Bindi

Chardonnay:

Neudorf Moutere
Kumeu River Mates
Kumeu River Hunting Hill
Sacred Hill Riflemans
Penfolds Yattarna
Leeuwin Art Series
Te Mata Elston
Bell Hill
Church Road Tom
Vidal Legacy
Clearview Reserve

Pinot Noir:

Ata Rangi
Burn Cottage
Felton Road Block 3 and 5
Escarpment Te Rehua
Bell Hill
Rippon Emmas
Martinborough Vineyard Reserve/ Marie Zelie
Pegasus Bay Prima Donna

OK thanks for all the replies people, keep em coming! Certainly a few wines/producers I need to visit or revisit in greater depth. Thanks for the NZ input too Craig! I've never had a Rifleman's Chardonnay (embarrassingly) but picked up some 2015 recently so looking fwd to it.

So a rough and ready short list of the most popular so far (with just some producers than their specific wines for the sake of simplicity).

Chardonnay (in order from the most mentioned)
LEAS
Kumeu River Mate's/Hunting Hill
Giaconda
Lake Folly
Oakridge
Penfolds Yattarna
Tyrrell's Vat 47
Hoddles Creek 1er


Pinot Noir (in order from the most mentioned)
By Farr
Bass Philip
Mayer
Felton Road Block 3/5
Curly Flat
Hoddles Creek 1er
Rippon
Escarpment
Ashton Hills

Sean wrote:My fav's that I dip back into every now and then, both Chardonnay and PN.

Kooyong
Moorooduc Estate
Phaedrus Estate (really the pinot)
Stonier
Giant Steps
Hoddles Creek Estate/Wickhams Rd
Toolangi

A few others from Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley that I will explore a bit more.

Merricks Creek
Polperro
Ten Minutes by Tractor (it's been a while)
Bicknell FC (no cellar door though)
Mac Forbes
Mayer
Serrat

Nb. These are my fav's, not the best of the best or whatever. Just saying.

Most aligned with this list (for Aus),

Craig(NZ) wrote:Chardonnay:

Neudorf Moutere
Kumeu River Mates
Kumeu River Hunting Hill
Sacred Hill Riflemans
Penfolds Yattarna
Leeuwin Art Series
Te Mata Elston
Bell Hill
Church Road Tom
Vidal Legacy
Clearview Reserve

Craig

Its interesting to see a few of the old names turn up on your list such as, KR Mates, Church Road and Clearview both of which I used to drink regularly when I lived in Auckland back in the 90s but wouldn't do so now due to a change of stylistic perferences. The question is have they they also changed over time? When I first started tried the likes of KR Mates, which I really struggled with, and the old Vidal chardonnays they were built in the old fashioned big buttery, full malo style. Your inclusion of the wines makes me wonder if their styles have also matured and changed over time so they are less buttery and more delicate? Do you perceive a change over time in style, if so I need to retry a few on your list.

Mark

Nothing buttery about the Kumeu River Mate's these days Mark, and certainly not the Moutere.

But personally I consistently find far too much oak influence on the Church Road Chard's (most of their wines actually) but have not yet tried the Rifleman's or Elston. A lot of these top Chard's can show a lot of oak in their youth, but it's the way it pokes above the fruit that I find distracting with the Church Roads. Young Yattarna can be guilty of this too, but they can age so well.