A couple of years ago, this wine wasn’t especially rewarding; tight, unyielding, totally bound up. Yet the intensity of its fruit shone through a clasped structure, so I purchased a few bottles for later tasting.
It’s quite different now. For a start, there are distinct flavour influences from time in bottle, mostly toast and crackly caramel in character. These ride atop juicier white peach and honeydew melon notes, themselves straddling vanilla cream. A precisely layered aroma profile. In the mouth, powerfully intense fruit flavours rush over the tongue with military precision — despite relaxing enough to allow a fuller expression of its fruit, this wine remains a focused experience. Acidity is quite prominent but noticeably less assertive than on initial release. The after palate and finish are especially lovely, with a blanket of sweet fruit gently settling in the mouth, lingering on and on, then smoothly tapering away. Quite complex, shapely and elegant.
Interesting. I only hopped onto the Jaluka Chardonnay from 2006, but it and the 2007 (perhaps a little more fruit forward) look like they are in the same mould as this 2005. And for a twenty if you look. Cheers jeremy
Twenty bucks is a bargain for a wine of this quality, my only caveat being that it’s not exactly a crowd pleaser.