Winemaker Notes
Superb alongside grilled Pacific Sea Bass with a caper butter sauce.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A complex and deeply layered chardonnay with peach fruit, citrus and hazelnut. Toasty oak and nectarine too. The palate has hints of almond pastry amid nectarine and grapefruit. Concentrated and assertive, layered, and a driving finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
The M3 Chardonnay has evolved into a tight, refined style. It's medium-bodied and tart, with crisp acids that frame juicy citrus flavors. A subtle note of struck match marks the nose, alongside hints of orange zest.
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Wine Spectator
Strikes a balance between vibrant, crisp pineapple and lemon flavors and a warm, toasty cedar note. Harmonious and intense on the finish.
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Wine & Spirits
A pale, earthy Chardonnay, this is zipped up behind its flinty reduction, needing time in a decanter to show its juicy lemon and lemongrass notes.
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.
A narrow band of hills and valleys east of the city of Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills region is a diverse landscape featuring a variety of microclimates. In general it is moderate with high-altitude areas cooler and wetter compared to its warmer, lower areas.
Piccadilly Valley, the part of Adelaide Hills closest to the city, was first staked out by a grower named Brian Croser, in the 1970s for a cool spot to grow Chardonnay, then uncommon in Australia. Today a good amount of the Chardonnay goes to winemakers outside of the region.
Producers here experiment with other cool-climate loving aromatic varieties like Pinot Gris, Viognier and Riesling. Charming sparkling wine is also possible. On its north side, lower, west-facing slopes make full-bodied Shiraz.