Heggies Chardonnay 2005
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
Winemaker Notes
Heggies Vineyard Chardonnay 2005 is pale straw with a green tinge and displays a full nose of melon, cashew and figs with toasty undertones. The palate is fine and rich offering pear, quince and nashi melded with a creamy nougat fullness giving a lengthy finish.
This is a fine Heggies Chardonnay; like its predecessors, it can be enjoyed now or be cellared to gain further complexity.
Professional Ratings
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Other Vintages
2007-
Robert
Parker
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Wine &
Spirits -
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
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Wine
Spectator
Heggies Vineyard is a specialist-Chardonnay estate where terroir showcases wines with fine minerality, flavour and balance. At over 500 metres above sea level, Heggies Vineyard is one of South Australia’s highest altitude vineyards and also one of its coolest. On every Heggies Vineyard bottle is the image of a man sitting on top of his horse and surveying the land before him. The man’s name is Colin Heggie, a local grazier, who was the original owner of the picturesque Eden Valley property before he sold it to his old friend Wyndham Hill Smith. This single vineyard is located in Eden Valley, South Australia where the cool climate terroir is encouraged to produce Chardonnay and Riesling in the distinctive Heggies Vineyard style. The close-planted vines are grown in a thin layer of grey sandy loam over clay and decomposed rock. The vines compete vigorously for moisture and nutrient in this ‘lean’ soil, encouraging roots to dig deep where it is moist and cool throughout all seasons.
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.
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.