Sam Connew is a winemaker of note who is highly regarded on the Australian show circuit. There are some superb Chardonnays coming out of Tasmania, where the cool growing season is producing wines showing fineness and poise.
The wines of Stargazer came to my attention a couple of years ago, and I went long on the Riesling, which is superb. This Chardonnay is in a similar vain. Pared back, restrained, good acidity, yet well structured with deftly handled oak. Great balance across the palate. Still young and tight, could do with a couple of years. Delicious. I am probably teasing you guys as I doubt these wines have made their way to the US, but worth tracking down if you ever make it down under. In the mean time keep an eye out for Tasmanian Chardonnnays. They are good.
A very good winemaker Kent. Lovely Chardonnay.
She’s more than “highly-regarded” - she’s the chairman of the Sydney Royal show!
That aside, Oz chardy has come a lot way from the vanilla-slice-in-a-bottle styles of the 90s.
cheers,
Graeme
Thanks Graeme. Quite right. Nice to hear from you again. Should have relayed a more detailed resume. I could have said just buy these wines.
Kent
I had not heard of this producer until you posted this. I will seek a bottle to try.
Likewise…
Having had Chardy from all over the world, I am pretty confident that we now make the best outside of Burgundy, and the gap is closing…
Big call Paul, but quite plausible. Had a sensational 2014 Leeuwin AS Chard last week and the 2012 Yattarna is high on my list of best ever Chardonnays. I have the 2017 Penfolds Reserve Bin 17A about to lob as well as 2016 Yattarna, and it will be interesting to see how they look.
Could be true. I think you need to include NZ wines in your ‘we’, though.
Ok aussie guys-back in Sydney for the next 6 mos. Have friends here with deep Leeuwin AS cellar and agree it is great. However, what about some $20-40 chards reccos.
It seems Oz has gone from “sunshine in the glass” to non oaked/non malo early picked style that is more akin to SB than chards. Are there any 100% malo, neutral to less than 25% new oak oz chards? We have tried a bunch over the yrs. Our current house chard is the Louis Latour St Veran-A$20 at Costco.
Paul-lots of good chards in Ca/Or-I think they are doing the new style much better than Oz. Should have brought a Matello Richard Durant back with me to put in a flight of Leeuwin AS. Did bring a Varner back. These are under $40.
Was the Cullen chard challenge last weekend or this weekend-always like seeing what was tasted.
Mark,
Not sure about malo on these, but $20 to $40. Suspect most not 100% but partial, in varying degrees.
Oakridge Local Vineyard Series
Kooyong Clonale
Balnaves Hand Picked
Vasse Felix
Chateau Xanadu
Penfolds Bin 311
De Bortoli
Gian Steps Yarra
Shaw and Smith M3
Tolpuddle (a bit over budget)
James, as an ex-Kiwi I can say that, but there has been along history of claiming independence from each other. Yes there are some lovely Chardonnays coming out of NZ that perhaps do not garner the attention that they deserve. The Pinots and Savvies are more visible.
It would be interesting to do a Leeuwin AS vs Kumeu R blind tasting. Love Kumeu R chards. Mountford did a great NZ chard when the blind winemaker was there.
kent-seems my reply didn’t make it-thanks.
Drink some Kooyong Clonale every yr. Usually disappointed in Giant Steps-love their reds- and Shaw and Smith.
Wasn’t De Bortoli the original “sunshine in the glass” ad?
Have you had Haldon-she worked with Ric at Giaconda for 10 yrs-have had 2 vintages and very nice.
De Bortoli Yarra Wines very good. Haven’t seen Haldon, one to look out for.
S + S Lenswood Chardonnay very good but outside your price parameters and a fair step up from the M3. Latest 2016 M3 I think is their best so far and worth revisiting.
In teh style that you describe I think the Balnaves might be a good fit, although not from one of teh most recognised Chardonnay regions.
Kent-thanks again
The style I am looking for is akin to the Domaine Roally Vire Clesse or Guillemot Michel Vire Clesse, or Ferret Pouilly Fuisse.
Sorry Mark, not familiar with those wines, but am I right in saying that you like a bit more richness, creaminess and structure than the pared back Chablis styles?
Kent-yes-particularly for my wife. We do drink a fair bit of Chablis tho. Just ordered some of the Hanzell chard that someone just put up as a PSA.
We also drink Alasce Pinot Gris -again most Oz and NZ just don’t do it for us. Finding some Vermentino from Sardinia and Italy and Rolle( French name for vermentino) from
S France is also making it’s way into our daily drinking window.
So searching for something here that is in between the old gold style and the current pick too early before grape maturity style.
Now there’s a Limestone Coast-centric answer!
You cannot exclude Giaconda! ![[soap.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7ea1fffd3ef237e8f19d17a83270ad8452218ca.gif "soap"){kind=small}
I’ve seen the Haldon but I don’t think I’ve had it (can’t be sure though, there is wine shop/bar in Beechworth where I have tasted a lot of wines and I don’t always remember all of them).
I wouldn’t count myself a Chardonnay expert by any means, but I think there are a bunch of less established winemakers making some nice stuff there. I was there in August and picked up bottles from Sentio, Baarmutha and Domenica. Pete from Domenica was also with Rick Kinzbrunner for a long time and Domenica was originally called Ergo Sum and was a Joint venture between Rick, Pete and Michel Chapoutier. The Baarmutha Chardonnay was the richest of those three. All are in the $40s price wise.
It’s a bit more expensive but the Sorrenberg Chardonnay is always lovely and I’ve never considered that particularly lean.