Australia: The Finest Chardonnay, Shore to Shore

Australian Chardonnay is stylistically diverse. There is a spectrum of growing regions on offer for viticulturists and producers, an array of soil types and terroirs and a healthy appetite on the part of the drinkers to enjoy different styles. There’s a wine for every season, and as a committed Chardonnay lover, my curiosity is insatiable.

 

In my role now, perhaps more than ever, I am exposed to great wines from all over the world. Every glass I have, I consider how it sits next to Australian wine. What are the differences, the similarities? Do we do it better, or worse, or just different? Tasting wine with my colleagues, who are based across America and Europe is a fascinating and sometimes confronting experience; how do they view our wines, and specific to this report, how do the Australian Chardonnay trends land on the international palate? What is the difference between a “style” and a trend, a swing of the pendulum. Where will we land, eventually?

 

Through this tasting, we saw wines from as geographically far apart as Pemberton and Tasmania, and everywhere in between. The wines were tasted in flights of five, and I tried to group regions together when possible and then, within that, styles. Price was not considered when arranging the wines in order.

 

The wines were selected based on previous high scores, even when in some cases, the most recent vintage of wine had just been recently reviewed (see Cullen Wines, Leeuwin Estate, Giaconda, etc.). However, producers were kind enough to contribute bottles that allowed for a side-by-side overview of the styles and regions. It is vital to note that the tasting was not constructed as a way of “crowning” Australia’s Next Top Chardonnay. The aim was to taste an array of wines that explored different styles and regions and, generally, to celebrate the brilliance of them as a group. 

 

It was a pleasure to taste the wines, and my heartfelt thanks goes to all producers for their generosity in contributing wines, some from their museums, for the tasting.

 

The Judgment of Paris is a scenario with which we are all familiar. It was a way, at that time, to get tasters to assess wines without bias. I find myself wondering today whether this is still necessary. It just might be. It is largely inadequate to verbally explain the age-worthiness of the best Australian Chardonnays without just opening a 10-year-old bottle and showing the youthfulness of it. If a picture can paint a thousand words, imagine what a mouthful could tell you.

 

 

The 2023 season in Margaret River (and spring of 2022 leading in) was long, mild and dry. Particularly for the white wines - especially Chardonnay- it was a profoundly elegant season, and the wines I have tasted so far confirm this assertion. Here, the 2023 Margaret River Chardonnay is mineral and fine and has a salivating line of acidity that runs through the fruit. While the phenolics are firm, it is balanced and restrained, and it promises a long future. Not quite ready to drink now, but this is a vintage I will enthusiastically back in my cellar.

 

The 2023 Pemberton Chardonnay is tightly wound- coiled like a spring. The wine is mineral and yet fleshy, with a core of lemongrass and brine. Orchard fruits carry the weight of the wine across the palate, and while this is profoundly promising, the wine currently is closed. It feels to me to be intensely exciting and declares a long future. Highly recommended.

 

The 2023 Gingin Willows Vineyard Chardonnay leads with white pepper and crushed nuts, white peach and lanolin, spring florals and a hint of sandalwood. In the mouth, the wine is precise, quiet and talcy, with musk and spearmint, almond meal and roasted hazelnuts. There is a hint of buttery popcorn on the nose. Green apples and pears colour the finish. This is a nice wine from a lovely, mild, season in Margaret River.

 

The 2023 Dijon Wychwood Vineyard Chardonnay is, as with the other Chardonnays from Cherubino in 2023, tightly coiled and springy, here with soft leaf herbs, scratched citrus, lanolin and spring florals. It is a beautiful little wine, abundant with crushed shells and white peach. It is very fine indeed, delicate and lacy.

 

The 2023 Caves Road Chardonnay leads with a precise lemony lift aromatically - it's a salivating characteristic, and it translates into a tightly coiled, lean palate. The wine is all about crushed shells and brine, white sand and almond meal. This is a lovely wine, but it's so very tight right now, perhaps characteristic of the season.

 

The 2022 vintage in Margaret River was warm and dry (fitting with a loose pattern of vintage conditions assigned to "even" vintages in the region over the past decade or so) and regrettably low yielding, such was the quality of the fruit. The Chardonnays as a whole seem to be voluptuous and complex, nutty and luxurious feeling. Here, the 2022 Margaret River Chardonnay fits the bill precisely: it offers pleasure and density in profusion. The phenolics are structural and firm and tighten the finish, but the cooling, juicy acidity from Karridale helps to define and freshen the palate. What a super wine.

 

The 2022 Pemberton Chardonnay is composed and nutty, with white peach and apricot fuzz, cashews and green apple skins and layers of saffron and Indian spice. The acidity is the calling card of great Pemberton Chardonnay; the area is cool with good rainfall, and the best wines come across as both finely structured and intensely flavoured. Restraint is the order of the day. The phenolics are firm through the finish, but this speaks more of future promise than it does any issues. This is a super, super wine.