Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Chardonnay possesses a lovely, tropical scented nose with notes of pink guava and pineapple over hints of butterscotch, cashews and honey-drizzled apricots plus a touch of toasty oak. Medium to full-bodied and richly fruited in the mouth, it has a silken texture and tons of tropical and stone fruit flavors. It finishes long with the oak poking through just a little. Approachable now, it should drink best 2014 to 2019+.
Rating: 93+
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.