Howard Park Margaret River Chardonnay
The palate exudes fleshy primary fruits, layered with nutmeal, lemon butter and brioche. A chalky, mineral texture and fresh citrus acidity continues the bounce.
Giant Steps Tarraford Chardonnay
Located in a protected valley, Tarraford Vineyard is cooler than its neighbouring sites. A bright and fruit-driven Chardonnay, expect citrus and tropical fruit aromas of orange, pineapple and passion fruit on the nose. A medium bodied wine on the palate, it's delicate and fresh with tropical and citrus flavours. You'll be surprised by its creamy texture and refreshing acidity which supports the lingering tropical flavours through the long finish. 'Winemaker Steve Flamsteed's chardonnays are Yarra benchmarks. This has syrupy white peach, grapefruit, herb and mealy aromas that build in the mouth, finishing long and stylish.' - Score 94 Value Good. - Age, Melbourne, 27 Aug 2013, by Ralph Kyte-Powell. Gold Medal | Royal Melbourne Wine Show 2014.
Brokenwood Indigo Vineyard Chardonnay
The Beechworth terroir has a distinctive fruit character of pear/peach fruit. The oak has minimal impact by using older French oak and mainly puncheons. The warm year has meant less citrus lift but has bran meal notes from the wild ferment and extended lees contact. The palate is quite rich with zesty acid line through to the finish. Drinking well now but will improve with further bottle age. Maybe leave the 2012 and 2013 for a couple more years and enjoy this in its place. Enjoy with Seafood to light meats.
Rockcliffe Single Site Chardonnay
Brilliant straw with green edges. Nuttiness and delicate stone fruit. Peach and grapefruit, with fresh balanced natural acidic finish giving layers of textural complexity. The fruit was handpicked, chilled and whole bunch pressed to allow gentle extraction. The juice was transferred directly into French oak barrels and fermented with a mix of natural (wild) yeast and selected yeast strains to provide complexity. No MLF to retain natural acidity and freshness. Post-fermentation the lees were stirred gently once a week until the balance between oak, lees characters and fruit characters was achieved. The origin of Rockcliffe was an 18 acre expanse of apple orchards planted early in the 1900s in the rich Scotsdale Valley region of Denmark in the Great Southern, Western Australia. In the late 1980s, a local family acquired the property for its fertile soils and position for long afternoon sunshine with cool ocean breezes. It was christened Matildas Meadow and the planting of dry grown vines commenced. The Pinot and Chardonnay vines were the first planted in the district in 1987. Our brands reflect our love of the Ocean and how important it is to the vineyard. Located less than 15km from the Southern Ocean , we are gifted with sea breezes all summer to cool the vineyard, creating the perfect conditions for the slow ripening, cool climate styles that symbolize the Great Southern.
Giant Steps Wombat Creek Vineyard Chardonnay
Levantine Hill Estate Blanc de Blanc
WinemakingAll fruit was hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. The cuvee taille (first cut free-run juice) was settled naturally overnight prior to racking to a mix of stainless steel tank and large format old barrels for fermentation.Fermented and aged separately in small batch lots on settled lees for nine months. The blended wine then underwent secondary fermentation in the bottle. This wine has been aged for an extended period on its autolysing yeast lees for more than four years to garner richness and complexity to its innate elegance and finesse.Winemaker's notesThe protracted growing season allowed a drawn-out ripening, resulting in an uncommon richness of flavour tempered by the abundant natural acidity contributed by the season.A bouquet of nashi pear, glazed brioche, lemon cheesecake and Amaretti buscuit. Flavours of nougat, lemon rind, jasmine and chestnut underpin a palate of steely acidity with delicated bubble, fruit weight and earthy 'sur lie' characters providing textural accompaniement, richness and creaminess to the finish. An excellent match for freshly-shucked oysters or semi-hard cow's milk cheeses.
Fabien Coche Grandes Coutures
FABIEN COCHE, Bourgogne Chardonnay Grandes Coutures