Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Kevin John Chardonnay hails from the ripe 2013 vintage, is darker in color and was picked at almost a full degree Baumé higher than the 2012 tasted beside it (12.8°, as opposed to the 11.6° of the 2012) yet at slightly lower pH. This is savory and spiced, with clove and cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and cardamom pod. The wine is powerful, driven and intense, with explosive flavor and drive from the middle palate onward. It is perhaps a more rambunctious expression of this vineyard, but it's no less impressive. It elicits a quiet "phwoar" from me while tasting. 14.2% alcohol.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Home to some of Australia’s most elegant and long-lived red and white wines, Margaret River is situated in the farthest reaches of Western Australia. Relatively warm and dry, the region is cooled by breezes from the Indian Ocean. Margaret River takes some inspiration from Bordeaux, producing top-quality Cabernet Sauvignons and Bordeaux Blends with firm structure, mouthwatering acidity, balanced alcohol and notes of herbs and spice. For white wines, refreshing blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon as well as complex, age-worthy Chardonnays are regional specialties.