Winemaker Notes
This is a fine Heggies Chardonnay and can be enjoyed now or be cellared to gain further complexity.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Chardonnay was sourced from a single vineyard in Eden Valley. It was fermented in barrel (35% new) with native yeasts and remained there for 10-14 months. There was no malolactic fermentation. The result is a light straw-colored wine with a nose of toast, mineral, green apple, pear and floral notes. Medium-bodied, the wine is well balanced, even elegant in the manner of a mid-level white Burgundy. There is excellent integration of oak and acidity and the finish is medium-long. Drink this well-made effort over the next 3-4 years.
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.