TN: Blacktongues do Chardonnay 2/2/05
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 4:58 pm
Has hell frozen over? Maybe not, but yes those red bigots of the Blacktongues turned their attention to this most evil of white weeds, although in Chardonnay’s defence at least it’s had the dignity not to start infesting itself in our red wines (yet).
While you can gather I have a rather jaded sense of apathy towards this variety in general, I have struck the occasional odd drop that’s been quite good indeed. After being very impressed with a 1994 Pipers Brook Summit magnum the previous week, I was delighted to fill in for Steve (707) for this tasting put together by the very capable hands of Keith.
As usual all the wines were tasted blind and this time served slightly chilled, initially leaving some frost on the glass with swirling. After about an hour everyone voted for their most preferred, next two most preferred, and their least preferred wines. It was a difficult group to split as evidenced by the widespread scores of the whole panel, and there was some controversy with two of the wines, where coincidentally I was rather generous with my rankings.
2003 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Chardonnay $16: Pale yellow/green colour. A mid-weighted nose of grass and nutty oak at first, with some malolactic and green apple characters with breathing. The palate opens with the soft presence of nutty oak, turning quite spicy on the mid-palate, and finishing with crisp fruit and firm tannins. This was a refreshingly honest style that shocked a few people when its identity was revealed, especially considering the heavyweight company it was with.
My Ranking: 3rd place
BTs: 3 most preferred, 2 second, 2 least
2003 Chardonnay by Farr $53: Pale yellow/green colour. A similar nose to the Wynns, mid-weight with nutty/grassy characters at first, then malolactic and nutty oak with breathing. There was more obvious nutty oak on the palate without the intensity of fruit to match; a soft entry, nutty/cashew and malolactic characters on the mid-palate, finishing with nutty oak on the aftertaste.
My ranking: =5th place
BTs: 2 most, 7 second, 0 least
2000 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay $75: Pale yellow/green colour. A rather slender/closed nose with some grass/cashew and mineral characters, with a wet, stinky undertone that suggested to me this could have had a very slight TCA/bottle volatility problem. The palate was the polar opposite to the nose, with a huge extract of fruit and equally weighted malolactic and nutty/cashew characters. At the end of the tasting as the nose was trying to open up the palate started to close and develop that dank/bitter aftertaste that again fueled my suspicions about a fault with the bottle, so I made allowances with my marks. Although no one else detected a problem, when the wine’s identity was revealed I was even more convinced – this was only a bare resemblance to a bottle I tried last year.
My ranking: 4th place
BTs: 1 most, 1 second, 1 least
2003 Howard Park Chardonnay $33: Pale yellow/green colour. An extremely fresh and floral/tropical nose, without a trace of oak. The palate was just as fresh and fruity and completely devoid of oak and malolactic fermentation; bold, ripe pineapple and passionfruit gave the impression of a big, unwooded, almost Sauvignon Blanc style on steroids!
My ranking: =5th place
BTs: 3 most, 2 second, 0 least
2001 Cullen Chardonnay $60: Pale to mid-yellow colour, the deepest of the group. Heavily toasted/nutty nose with rich butter & cinnamon toast characters. The palate was just as rich and spicy with citrus, stonefruit and again that cinnamon and nutty oak appearing on the finish. This was a controversial wine that split opinions. Towards the end of the tasting Ralph thought he noticed some oxidation problems and he wasn’t alone; after we had finished there were indeed some rather advanced brandied orange, honey and apricot flavours appearing. While I was impressed during the time allotted, had the scoring been 15 or so minutes later my final rankings may have been very different.
My ranking: 1st place
BTs: 3 most, 3 second, 7 least
2001 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay $75: Pale yellow/green colour. A beautiful floral nose with hints of ginger, spice, citrus, and classy oak sitting well underneath the veil of fruit. The spicy palate opens with powerful stonefruit, citrus and apple characters, continuing with a huge structure/spine of tannin that continue to the finish, with lingering nutty oak. This was a classy and huge wine still way off its best, and was unlucky not to finish on top of one at least of our scoresheets.
My ranking: 2nd place
BTs: 0 most, 8 second, 0 least
2002 Hardys Eileen Hardy Chardonnay $39: Pale yellow/green colour. A very stinky nose with hints of diesel fumes and dog poo, gradually becoming toasty with breathing. The palate is kinder, with lemon rind/citrus on opening, a spicy mid-palate rich with fruit, finishing with ripe pineapple and a touch of smoke. While I felt the palate had very good structure and flavours, the nose was just way too unattractive at this stage.
My ranking: =7th place
BTs: 2 most, 1 second, 2 least
2002 Tyrrells Vat 47 Chardonnay $40: Pale yellow/green colour. A strange nose composed of chemical/texta fumes, grass and toast. The palate was fiery and tannic, with tight lemon pith/citrus fruit, and stinky/grassy oak. This wasn’t a popular wine with the panel, but in it’s defence I can see it was probably way too young and didn’t get the breathing time it needed.
My ranking: 9th place
BTs: 0 most, 1 second, 2 least
2002 Pierro Chardonnay $60: Pale yellow/green colour. Initially a similar nose to the Wynns again with grassy/nutty oak and a hint of toast, then closing up completely with just a hint of grass and flint. The palate’s entry was warm and fruity with hints of toast and nuts, before turning decidedly bitter on the mid-palate, finishing quite nutty with air.
My ranking: =7th place
BTs: 2 most, 4 second, 1 least
My thanks again to Steve and the Blacktongues.
Cheers
Ian
While you can gather I have a rather jaded sense of apathy towards this variety in general, I have struck the occasional odd drop that’s been quite good indeed. After being very impressed with a 1994 Pipers Brook Summit magnum the previous week, I was delighted to fill in for Steve (707) for this tasting put together by the very capable hands of Keith.
As usual all the wines were tasted blind and this time served slightly chilled, initially leaving some frost on the glass with swirling. After about an hour everyone voted for their most preferred, next two most preferred, and their least preferred wines. It was a difficult group to split as evidenced by the widespread scores of the whole panel, and there was some controversy with two of the wines, where coincidentally I was rather generous with my rankings.
2003 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Chardonnay $16: Pale yellow/green colour. A mid-weighted nose of grass and nutty oak at first, with some malolactic and green apple characters with breathing. The palate opens with the soft presence of nutty oak, turning quite spicy on the mid-palate, and finishing with crisp fruit and firm tannins. This was a refreshingly honest style that shocked a few people when its identity was revealed, especially considering the heavyweight company it was with.
My Ranking: 3rd place
BTs: 3 most preferred, 2 second, 2 least
2003 Chardonnay by Farr $53: Pale yellow/green colour. A similar nose to the Wynns, mid-weight with nutty/grassy characters at first, then malolactic and nutty oak with breathing. There was more obvious nutty oak on the palate without the intensity of fruit to match; a soft entry, nutty/cashew and malolactic characters on the mid-palate, finishing with nutty oak on the aftertaste.
My ranking: =5th place
BTs: 2 most, 7 second, 0 least
2000 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay $75: Pale yellow/green colour. A rather slender/closed nose with some grass/cashew and mineral characters, with a wet, stinky undertone that suggested to me this could have had a very slight TCA/bottle volatility problem. The palate was the polar opposite to the nose, with a huge extract of fruit and equally weighted malolactic and nutty/cashew characters. At the end of the tasting as the nose was trying to open up the palate started to close and develop that dank/bitter aftertaste that again fueled my suspicions about a fault with the bottle, so I made allowances with my marks. Although no one else detected a problem, when the wine’s identity was revealed I was even more convinced – this was only a bare resemblance to a bottle I tried last year.
My ranking: 4th place
BTs: 1 most, 1 second, 1 least
2003 Howard Park Chardonnay $33: Pale yellow/green colour. An extremely fresh and floral/tropical nose, without a trace of oak. The palate was just as fresh and fruity and completely devoid of oak and malolactic fermentation; bold, ripe pineapple and passionfruit gave the impression of a big, unwooded, almost Sauvignon Blanc style on steroids!
My ranking: =5th place
BTs: 3 most, 2 second, 0 least
2001 Cullen Chardonnay $60: Pale to mid-yellow colour, the deepest of the group. Heavily toasted/nutty nose with rich butter & cinnamon toast characters. The palate was just as rich and spicy with citrus, stonefruit and again that cinnamon and nutty oak appearing on the finish. This was a controversial wine that split opinions. Towards the end of the tasting Ralph thought he noticed some oxidation problems and he wasn’t alone; after we had finished there were indeed some rather advanced brandied orange, honey and apricot flavours appearing. While I was impressed during the time allotted, had the scoring been 15 or so minutes later my final rankings may have been very different.
My ranking: 1st place
BTs: 3 most, 3 second, 7 least
2001 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay $75: Pale yellow/green colour. A beautiful floral nose with hints of ginger, spice, citrus, and classy oak sitting well underneath the veil of fruit. The spicy palate opens with powerful stonefruit, citrus and apple characters, continuing with a huge structure/spine of tannin that continue to the finish, with lingering nutty oak. This was a classy and huge wine still way off its best, and was unlucky not to finish on top of one at least of our scoresheets.
My ranking: 2nd place
BTs: 0 most, 8 second, 0 least
2002 Hardys Eileen Hardy Chardonnay $39: Pale yellow/green colour. A very stinky nose with hints of diesel fumes and dog poo, gradually becoming toasty with breathing. The palate is kinder, with lemon rind/citrus on opening, a spicy mid-palate rich with fruit, finishing with ripe pineapple and a touch of smoke. While I felt the palate had very good structure and flavours, the nose was just way too unattractive at this stage.
My ranking: =7th place
BTs: 2 most, 1 second, 2 least
2002 Tyrrells Vat 47 Chardonnay $40: Pale yellow/green colour. A strange nose composed of chemical/texta fumes, grass and toast. The palate was fiery and tannic, with tight lemon pith/citrus fruit, and stinky/grassy oak. This wasn’t a popular wine with the panel, but in it’s defence I can see it was probably way too young and didn’t get the breathing time it needed.
My ranking: 9th place
BTs: 0 most, 1 second, 2 least
2002 Pierro Chardonnay $60: Pale yellow/green colour. Initially a similar nose to the Wynns again with grassy/nutty oak and a hint of toast, then closing up completely with just a hint of grass and flint. The palate’s entry was warm and fruity with hints of toast and nuts, before turning decidedly bitter on the mid-palate, finishing quite nutty with air.
My ranking: =7th place
BTs: 2 most, 4 second, 1 least
My thanks again to Steve and the Blacktongues.
Cheers
Ian