Pick Of The Chardies
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday January 3, 2007
WINE show judges had some uncharitable comments about chardonnay wines during 2006 but I can't see anyone finding fault with the $38 Shaw and Smith 2005 M3 Vineyard Chardonnay my chardonnay of the year.
Made from Adelaide Hills grapes, the M3 has orange blossom aromas and shows fresh, elegant melon flavour on the front of the palate. The middle palate glides into the nectarine spectrum with underlays of butterscotch, cumquats and cashew-like oak. Silky flinty acid comes through at the finish. Another exceptional, and easy-on-the-pocket, chardonnay is the $20 Lillydale Estate 2005 Yarra Valley Chardonnay, which was recently judged the best table wine, the best white wine, the best dry white and the best premium-vintage chardonnay at the 2006 National Wine Show in Canberra.A splendid Hunter show pony is the Benwarin 2004 Chardonnay, which won the 2006 Hunter Valley Wine Show Murray Tyrrell Trophy for the best chardonnay of any vintage and a gold medal in the 2004 and older, chardonnay dry white class. It sells for $15 by mail order on www.benwarin.com.au.Other impressive chardonnays are the $115-plus Penfolds 2003 Yattarna Chardonnay, the $38 Voyager Estate 2004 Chardonnay, the $26 Scarborough 2002 Yellow Label Hunter Chardonnay, and the $20 Tempus Two 2005 Copper Label Wilde Chardonnay, made by 2006 Len Evans Tutorials dux Liz Jackson.
© 2007 Newcastle Herald