Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Beltana Blanc de Blancs leads with marmalade on buttered toast, a hint of praline, preserved citrus, scratched lemon rind, orange blossom, cheesecloth, a hint of iodine and crushed quartz/shell. On the palate, the wine is complex, textural and very fine, and like the 2017 Loftia that I tasted earlier today, the cool season (both 2011 and 2017 were cool seasons, but 2011 was wetter) has imbued the wine with a placid overlay. This is zen and balanced, with lovely composure and brilliant, lemony acidity. 12.5% 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.
Adelaide refers to the diverse super zone in South Australia containing the Mount Lofty Ranges Zone (Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains and Clare Valley), Fleurieu Zone (Currency Creek, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, and Southern Fleurieu) and Barossa Zone (Barossa Valley and Eden Valley).
The Adelaide Hills region is distinguished and beautiful, offering a cool respite in the summer for Adelaide city dwellers. With vineyards planted fairly high in elevation at 1,500 to 1,800 feet, it is known for particularly fine, citrus-driven Sauvignon Blanc.
The Adelaide Plains is a hot region northwest of the Adelaide Hills that produces approachable, value-driven wines.