AUSSIE CHARDONNAYS HIT THE COME-BACK TRAIL

NEW-look Aussie Chardonnay to enjoy with grilled lemon chicken.

Wc13Feb12

David Ellis

WINE consultant, tutor, critic and author, Rob Geddes noted recently that Aussie Chardonnays are making a come-back, after falling off the rails in the 1990s and their sales being hammered further by rising star Sauvignon Blanc.

Rob blames the Chardonnay demise on makers here following the Californian experience and coming up with what he calls their “Dolly Parton-style – full-bodied, up-front and with everything on show.” In brief, he says, “they were over-scented, thickly textured and laden with toasty oak.”

As we know sales of our Chardonnays spiralled downwards over the past decade, but Rob says we’ve learned our lesson and Aussie Chardonnays today are more likely to be more elegant, lean and streamlined. And certainly one that falls into that category is Cumulus Estate’s 2011 Rolling Chardonnay that’s possibly the best that their winemaker Debbie Lauritz has ever produced.

Made from fruit from the company’s vineyards on the Central Ranges and at Orange NSW, this is a Chardonnay that’s elegant with finer than usual fruit flavours ranging through citrus, white stone-fruits and riper tropicals, and with some acidity and a wonderful mouthfeel.

INVEST for the cellar, or team this one now with almost any red-meat dishes

At $17.95 enjoy this new-look Aussie Chardonnay with grilled lemon chicken.

ONE FOR LUNCH: SMALLER than average crops in the Hunter Valley in 2010 produced some wonderfully intensely-flavoured fruit for winemakers, and one stand-out drop that resulted from this was Mount Eyre Vineyards’ 2010 Three Ponds Merlot.

A wine with generous dark berry fruit flavours and some nice soft tannins, it’s a lovely drink now but will develop further complexity over the next ten years if you’d like to tuck it away. If more interested in enjoying it now, pay $22.95 and share it on the table with almost any red-meat dishes.

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