Winemaker Notes
#24 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 of 2020
Aromas of citrus, fresh melon and crushed hazelnuts with mineral undertones. The palate is long, elegant and broad with a beautiful creaminess from the extended aging on its lees. A backbone of crisp and punchy acidity carries flavors of stone fruits, citrus and shortbread through a persistent finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The latest vintage of this noteworthy producer’s Chardonnay is singing. A harmonious, multifaceted nose offers notes of bright citrus, fresh melon and flowers, while a chorus of sun-baked stones and freshly baked bread linger behind. Beautifully textural and salty on the palate, it crunches with minerals and vibrant fruit. The oak is tucked away and the finish long and salty. Drink now– 2030.
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Wine Spectator
Stunningly precise, vivid and mouthwatering, with a hint of butterscotch to the lemon curd, pear and mango flavors. Intense and juicy, finishing fresh and vibrant. Details of white tea and roasted hazelnut emerge on the finish. Drink now through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Hints of toasted almond, lemon curd and pastry crust evoke an almost dessert-like sensation on the nose of the 2019 Chardonnay. The medium-bodied palate is silky and generous but crisp and dry, finishing with mouthwatering savoriness and length.
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.
As the most important area of wine production in Victoria today, the Yarra Valley is most popular for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which account for over half of vineyard acreage. A gentle, rolling and rural region alongside the Margaret River, the Yarra Valley has a cool maritime climate with a lengthy growing season, perfect for these cool-climate varieties.
Two styles of Pinot Noir are possible here. The warmer Lower Yarra Valley with sandy, loam soils, produces plush and fruity Pinot Noir while the cooler, higher-elevation Upper Yarra Valley with soils of young red basalt, produces more angular and mineral-driven Pinot Noir.
Yarra Valley Chardonnay is among the best in Australia. To preserve the floral aromatics and fresh citrus flavors for which this area’s Chardonnay is so appreciated, time in barrel is restrained (though barrel fermentation is common). The best Yarra Valley Chardonnays display brilliant acidity, leesy characteristics, citrus, stone fruit and flavors of ginger and spice.
Shiraz and Cabernet find success in parts of this region as well.