Tag Archives: Chardonnay

Domaine de Roally Mâcon-Village 2004

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A humble Village Burgundy from the also-ran Mâconnais region of Burgundy. What makes this a bit interesting is its link to vigneron Jean Thévenet, who tends to employ unconventional techniques in the growing and vinification of his wines, including the occasional oddball inclusion of a portion of botrytised fruit.

This is the very opposite of a showstopper. It’s tendency towards self-effacement almost had me writing it off when I first smelled it. It’s not a matter of blandness, or lack of presence, but rather that its aroma and flavour profiles sink immediately into the kind of deeply comfortable place I associate with home cooking. For a cheap Burgundy from 2004, this still has plenty of fruit swirling around in its aroma, alongside some prickly honey and other evidence of the time it has spent in bottle. It’s round and gently inviting, possessing just enough freshness to present an edge alongside its plushness.

The palate is, as with the nose, surprisingly youthful. The entry is fruit-sweet and almost prickly in mouthfeel, playful if a bit simple. Intensity builds towards the middle palate, where complexity becomes greater and overall presence is more impressive. This really is a good wine given its age and price point. There’s a full spectrum of flavours, from intensely sweet to oddly savoury, all expressed with a relaxation that gently ushers the palate along. There’s too little light and shade as the line moves through the after palate and finish, although the flavour profile tilts more towards savouriness the further it moves along. Structure remains firm and drags satisfying texture across the tongue.

This wine could be plenty more — more intense, more complex, more varied — but its confident relaxation is very appealing and belies its lowly provenance.

Domaine de Roally
Price: $A28.05
Closure: Cork
Source: Retail

Stefano Lubiana Brut Reserve NV

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The world of moderately priced Australian sparkling wine can be mouth-puckering in its disappointment, so I’m always on the lookout for good wines at prices cheaper than low-end Champagne. My go-to wine for a while has been the regular Brown Brothers NV, but this slightly more expensive wine is also an attractive proposition.

On pouring, an alarmingly abundant mousse that settles quickly to a subdued, spare bead. The nose is initially savoury, with hints of mushroom and yeast, though this could never be described as a style that is heavy on these elements. Rather, they are an accent to fine, crisp fruit notes, part apple and part strawberry, delicate and bright. The palate is stirring while, thankfully, avoiding the edgy acid that can plague our affordable sparklings. Entry is lively and surprisingly full, rounded fruit flavours becoming more prominent as the line progresses. This fullness does come at the expense of defined incisiveness; whether this is a good or bad thing is, I imagine, a matter of taste. For me, it robs the wine of that last ounce of freshness. No matter; there’s plenty of flavour and a well-balanced amount of spritz. Dosage seems restrained. The after palate is brighter, tilting towards a citrus sharpness that becomes bleached as the wine moves through its ultra-clean finish.

This is a cleverly made wine that privileges drinkability above clarity of articulation. A real crowd-pleaser.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A34
Closure: Cork
Source: Sample

Domaine Dublère Puligny-Montrachet 2006

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On reflection, I was rather too dismissive of this wine on first tasting for, although I clearly enjoyed it, I pegged it as a “drink now” wine, something it certainly was, but it’s now showing some bottle age to distinct advantage too. A wine not to be underestimated, then.

My earlier note stands, except now there’s both more volume and better integration. Any hint of restraint on the nose is gone; this is a minerally delight, complex and distinct and etched all at the same time. It’s still a lean wine in terms of its aroma profile, preferring angularity to flesh. There’s also a depth to it, in the way layers of glass can have depth as well as brilliance.

The palate remains powerful but has lost the boisterousness of three years ago that suggested a slight clumsiness of flow. This is now very much in the groove, with strong, clear melon fruit tumbling over firm acid and a range of savoury notes. The winemaking is here most evident, with a range of oak and lees derived notes, from oatmeal to cashews and more. The after palate fans out most pleasingly, and the finish is well extended.There’s no obvious bottle age here. The wine has simply relaxed and learned to express itself without angst, earning a sense of poise it lacked as a youngster.

Quite delicious.

Domaine Dublère
Price: $A63
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail

Domaine Gautheron Chablis 1er Cru Vaucoupin 2005

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If old wines in general are an acquired taste, then surely old white wines in particular are especially so. Without suggesting one must like these wines, I do feel there’s value in at least understanding how a wine ages over time, whether it adjusts its balance and flavours and, ultimately, whether it tastes better at some points than others. This well-priced Chablis is a good example of a wine that has really come into its own over the last three years. When previously tasted, this came across as tasty but awkward and clumsy, fighting within itself for poise and balance. What a transformation. I believe it’s delivering maximum pleasure right now.

The nose is highly expressive and distinctly honeyed, floral and mineral. In other words, showing a range of aromas from primary to tertiary. What I like most, though, is that it presents as a single, complex note rather than a series of discrete ones, no matter how complementary. The sign of a wine in its prime.

The palate’s greatest feature is its multifaceted texture. The acid has folded back into the wine, allowing its fullness of mouthfeel to present unobstructed, yet it’s a still firm, shapely wine in the mouth. Flavours are again tightly integrated and complex, with more mineral notes, honey and citrus. Intensity isn’t outrageous, nor does it lack flavour; just enough, I’d say. Good extension through the back palate.

This is drinking far better now than three years ago and, although it’s not a blockbuster style, it’s an extremely enjoyable, sophisticated wine.

Domaine Gautheron
Price: $A38
Closure: Cork
Source: Retail

Salo Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2010

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Made in tiny quantities, lots of whole bunch action, an apparent passion project; this is practically collapsing under the weight of its own cred. What’s gratifying, therefore, is its relative subtlety. The nose, especially, starts almost mute, gradually releasing aromas of flint, oatmeal, linseed oil and, eventually, some white stonefruit. It’s never especially expressive, and I do wish for a bit more volume (in time, I think), but its complexity is undeniable.

The palate is powerful and quite masculine in character, as if a taciturn character gives way to a muscular bulk it just can’t hide. A sharp, clean entry broadens to a middle palate awash with fruit and savouriness. Peaches, herbs, minerals. The standout dimension is texture, and I love the way this wine moves over the tongue with a deliciously tangible, mealy texture. Intensity is impressive, but it seems to trade some definition for all its power and complexity. Everything here points to a focused articulation of flavours, but just before the money shot, it loses concentration and blurs its form. Reasonable people can disagree about whether this is desirable; personally, I yearned for it to go all the way and express each of its components with crystal clarity.

A very interesting wine.

Salo
Price: $A40
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Gift

Stefano Lubiana Collina 2008

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It’s hard not to engage in a conversation about style when tasting Australian Chardonnay, as the varietal is currently convulsing its way through various winemakers’ ideas of what it ought to taste like, not always happily. It’s disappointing to see ongoing comparisons to Old World styles; surely the point is for us to discover, through experimentation, the most appealing expressions of the grape within our various regions. In any case, it’s a process I am watching, and in a small way contributing to, with interest.

This wine struck me as particularly interesting when it arrived in the mail. A cellar door only release, its pricing marks it as determinedly up-market. And, more or less immediately on pouring, it justified its price point. Ultimate quality aside, this wine throws a whole lot at you without so much as a breather. Aromas leap from the glass: gunpowder, oatmeal, cantaloupe, waxed lemon. It seems a heavily worked wine, but one that expresses its complexity with tight, almost brutal, focus. This isn’t a wine to relax into; rather, it’s at the top of its game, demanding that you, too, stay on your toes.

The palate begins on a cool note, sharp lemon pushing through a luxuriously slippery mouthfeel. The middle palate is marginally wider in line, though one could never describe this as loose. Fine, tight acid supports a flavour profile that is one part lemon and three parts savoury complexities. Intensity is very impressive, a sharp lift of citrus fruit through the after palate particularly striking in this regard. Oatmeal, hessian and nuts take over as the palate moves towards its close, the finish itself showing good extension and an even, elegant diminuendo.

An excellent wine, full of quality winemaking and fruit in equal measure. This makes a very convincing argument for a particular view of Tasmanian Chardonnay.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A60
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Domaine Pattes Loup Chablis 1er Cru Beauregard 2009

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Drinking is better with company; not only can an exchange of ideas and impressions flow, but it’s a great excuse to break open some of the good stuff. Yesterday, in a Burgundy-inspired afternoon’s tasting with Jeremy Pringle, this wine stood out.

Don’t drink this too cold; as it has warmed in the glass, initial notes of sulfur and minerals have been joined by a dreamy squirt of lemon curd. There’s quite a bit of sulfur it seems; I’m alternately wheezing and smelling; just as well the aroma profile makes it worth my while. Good complexity and detail, bouncing between soft and sharp, like lemon juice dripping through clouds.

Firm attack, mostly comprising lemon juice with a hint of cut apple, perhaps left on the bench to brown for a few minutes. Excellent acid structure; bubbly, firm and excellently balanced, providing good flow and direction without overwhelming the delicacies of the flavour profile. There’s gentle nougat oak underlying layers of citrus, apple, unripe stonefruit and minerals. Intensity never overwhelms, but is strong enough to provide thrust and impact to the line of citrus fruit that is most prominent on entry and through the middle palate. While fruit drops off through the after palate, texture takes a front seat, a gentle astringency creeping in, reminiscent of lemon pith. A lingering impression of freshness and refreshment.

A really lovely wine.

Domaine Pattes Loup
Price: $A60
Closure: Cork
Source: Gift

Peregrine Chardonnay 2009

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Descriptors are unhelpful enough without having to endure the mangling to which we often subject them. The fruit analogues are one thing; “peach” is at least somewhat determinate; the stylistic descriptors are altogether more problematic, which is a shame, because they’re often the most telling words we use as wine writers. Describe a Chardonnay as tasting like grapefruit, and I sort of know what you mean. Describe it as elegant, however, and I’m much less confident I understand the wine’s style. Yet I reach for these stylistic descriptors often in my writing, because I feel they communicate much more of the experience of drinking a wine than fruit notes, or perhaps even structural descriptions.

Partly, the problem arises because we tend to use these descriptors interchangeably, or as euphemisms for one another. To describe a wine as elegant represents an enormous (positive) value judgement, but often it’s code for “lean,” which is, to me at least, less unequivocally good. Indeed, heavily worked styles can be elegant, and lean wines clumsy. Is elegant a worthless descriptor, then? Not at all, but something so abstract must be used with precision and perhaps even caution.

This wine is a case in point. It’s not a lean wine, nor is it nimble, or dainty, or even especially fine. It is, however, complex, worked, generous and, in its way, gaudily elegant. It’s Versace to Chablis’ Armani, a wine dripping with ornament, very much a more is more aesthetic. Yet this is somehow contained within a bright, firm-enough acid structure, so that it stops short of being overwhelming and remains simply a mouth full of pea

ch, butterscotch and herb flavour, slightly hot on the finish, lacking in intensity, making up for it with some fine detail and complexity. Peregrine
Price: $A35
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail

Lake's Folly Chardonnay 2010

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I’m a huge fan of Hunter Chardonnay, enjoying the warm climate vibe the style brings while perversely getting off on how old fashioned they often are. Lake’s Folly Chardonnay must surely represent, along with Tyrrell’s Vat 47, the pinnacle of the style, so it’s with great anticipation that I approach the nouveau Lake’s Folly each year. Today’s the day for this one. Onwards with the tasting.

White and yellow peaches on the nose, returning to fuller form after the lean profile of the 2009. Some struck match around the edges, some minerality, all of which frames a buxom core of stonefruit flavour. What’s interesting is that, despite the fruit’s profile, there’s nothing excessive about the wine’s aroma. Rather, the impression is of power and substance, and moreover of sophistication. It’s complex, this one, a range of nutty, savoury aromas swarming around all that fruit. This is a Chardonnay that is stylistically sure of itself, and which seeks to maximise the potential of the style rather than give up to its more obvious side.

In the mouth, the style of it is fully justified by a cascade of fruit, power and complexity, with as many savoury dimensions as there are sweet. Weight is the first thing to register, a pleasing mouthful of taut, quite muscular flavour moving into the mouth on entry and opening the middle palate right up. Structure is firm and fine, already well integrated and matched to the wine’s weighty dimensions. An intense hit of brown spice lands on the after palate, before a strikingly clean, fruit-driven finish brings lengthy satisfaction.

I love the style of this wine, and this is an especially fine example in the fuller mode.

Lake’s Folly
Price: $A55
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail

Seppelt Jaluka Chardonnay 2005

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Another chapter in my ongoing mini-fascination with this wine, which on release seemed so full of potential yet reluctant to convey pleasure. Two years ago, it had begun to show signs of relaxation, and in August 2011 it continues to slowly unwind, release its secrets and allow me in.

Tertiary characters haven’t advanced markedly in the intervening time, a light caramel note remaining the key indicator of age. What has changed, though, is the grip this wine exerts on its sensual dimensions. From an uncoercible stranglehold to more expressive muscularity, this is finally starting to celebrate its gorgeous primary fruit: grapefruit, white peach and fresh herbs.

The palate simply explodes with intense fruit flavour, remarkably fresh in character and precise in expression. It amazes me that a mid-priced Australian Chardonnay could taste so new at five years of age; this has a vibrancy many wines would covet on release. It’s the crispness of iced drinks in summer, cool beads of condensation on a glass, the tingle of salt and lime taken together. Indeed, it feels odd to be drinking this wine on a Saturday evening. In its current state, this would ideally be enjoyed well chilled in the pursuit of staying cool on a hot day. Except that framing it as pure refreshment is hopelessly reductive; it has qualities that point clearly towards the high end. The palate is now quite full without losing focus, oak is well integrated (though still abundant), the finish long and pure.

This is just getting started.

Seppelt
Price: $A30
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail