Out Of The Bottle
With
David Ellis
Aussie Chardonnays Hit The Come-Back Trail
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.
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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a drink?
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