Wine without BS

Chapel Hill 2011 Chardonnay

The Chapel Hill Unoaked Chardonnay has been around for 21 years and has always been a good, solid and respectable drop. However, let's be honest, if you got 100 chardonnay lovers in a room and said hands up who prefers unaoked chardonnay to those with some form of oak, I'd bet a hogshead full of loose change less than 10 people would put their hand up!

The only problem is that so many chardonnays go a bit overboard on the oak... no pun intended. 

Enter the 2011 Chapel Hill Chardonnay. It has a light colour that is a very pale, metallic gold. It has a relatively light aroma of white flesh fruits and a hint of vanilla. As I go to describe the flavour I find myself using the word light for the third time, but having finished a few glasses of this wine I find myself thinking this style of lightly oaked chardonnay could easily become one of my new favourite white wines. 

One interesting observation/tip is that I personally found it more enjoyable at a temperature true aficionado's would be say is over chilled, particularly for chardonnay. Translated I am simply saying that I enjoyed it more straight out of the fridge, whereas heavier chardonnays do actually tend to drink better with a little time out of the fridge prior to drinking.

Chapel Hill 2011 Chardonnay
Price - $16 from Chapel Hill Wine , also at selected retailers.
Region - McLaren Vale, South Australia
Final Sip - This wine is a class act from start to finish that was great with or without food. For under $20 you cannot ask for much more from any white wine! 

 

Golding Wines - 2008 Block 2 Chardonnay

 
 

Despite the fact that many people turn their noses up at Chardonnay I personally believe it is one of most enjoyable and satisfying white wines available. Perhaps it was just fortunate that I was too young to experience what I am told was a flood of big, oaky and buttery versions of Chardonnay in past decades, that seem to have spoilt it for many. Current Australian Chardonnays are very different and while a few can still get a little carried away with the oak treatment sometimes, for the most part they are very refined and enjoyable.

An example I had a little while ago from Adelaide Hills producer, Golding Wines, is right up there with the best I've tried lately. It has an appealing lemony gold colour and nice aroma of subtle oak with slight hints of honey and fruit. Totally lovely to drink with all elements perfectly in balance!

Golding Wines - 2008 Block 2 Chardonnay
Price - $25 from www.goldingwines.com.au
Region - Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Final Sip - Truly one of the better wines I've had from the Adelaide Hills region, period! For $25 it is also great value.

AMP Social Media Café and my date with Keira Knightley & Scarlett Johansson!

Thanks to the random nature of social media and, in this particular instance, Twitter, as this post goes live on the afternoon of April 21st I will be in an AMP Capital Boardroom with 80 odd people, drinking wine and talking about it on Twitter. This is part of an on-going series of experiments being conducted by an AMP Capital initiative called Social Media Café. The term for today's event is 'Twasteup' and that is also the hash-tag reference to search for on Twitter to see today's live tasting tweets!

The wines I will be enjoying are both from Hunter Valley based producer, Hungerford Hill, who this year celebrate their 40 year anniversary! For this event owner and chairman of Hungerford Hill, James Kirby, wanted to show off his 2009 Shiraz and 2008 Tumbarumba Chardonnay. I was fortunate enough to be given a sample of each to take home and try before today's event and my thoughts on each are below.

Hunter Valley 2009 'Regional Series' Shiraz - A lighter, more elegant style of Shiraz than perhaps what a lot of Aussie Shiraz lovers are used to and has an alcohol content of only 12.9%. It has a smooth and soft fruity aroma and flavour that finishes well and never disappoints sip after sip. Enjoyable as it was on its own this wine will really shine when paired with a quality cut of red meat!

Tumbarumba 2008 'Regional Series'  Chardonnay - I really like the colour of this wine in the glass. A faint lime cordial colour that shines crystal clear at times. A very attractive aroma of fruit, oak and even a novice like me can pick up a hint of vanilla. The best part is that the flavour is just as good as the aroma. This is a well balanced Chardonnay that has both fruit and oak characters with a citrus driven acidity, however no one component is dominating, creating a harmonious balance that only a few wine makers seem to achieve!

 

Both wines are surprisingly refined and in a way, being told to take these two wines home and drink them would be like being told to take home Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson. Sure, for one night many blokes might prefer Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra, but night after night the softer, more sophisticated option will have more long term appeal.

Hungerford Hill Regional Series - Hunter Valley 2009 Shiraz and Tumbarumba 2008 Chardonnay
Price - $35 for the Shiraz and $25 for the Chardonnay available on-line
Region - Hunter Valley (grapes for Chardonnay from Tumbarumba) NSW
Recommended - Definitely! Having also tried the Cabernet Sauvignon and Verdelho from the same series it leads me to beleive the entire range is worth a try. Expect easy, yet elegant drinking.

New York City, Aussie Wine and comments by Henry Roth!

 

I recently had the pleasure of being contacted by well known Australian Fashion and Wedding Gown designer Henry Roth via the social media site Twitter by Henry admitting he wished he knew more about wine.  After communicating for a while backwards and forwards Henry was generous enough to do me a favour I boldly asked of him and to his absolute credit he fulfilled my request as if we were old friends and I felt incredibly humbled and indebted by his gesture.

 

In order to thank him I wanted to send him some of my favourite Australian wines to enjoy in his new home town, New York City. As I very quickly discovered simply buying a few bottles of wine and sending them to the United States in the post is no easy task and while some speciality bottle shops here specialise in sending wine overseas many people confided in me that no one can guarantee my wine would make it to its intended destination!

 

I found this rather surprising and disappointing as I really wanted to send wines that I truly enjoy. In the end I figured out that the best way to send Australian wine to a contact in New Yorkwas to find an on-line US retailer who sold Australian wines. As it turned out this was not difficult and prices were surprisingly good even though listed prices were in US dollars.

 

I went through a number of sites to ensure I could find a good selection of quality Australian Wines and insisted that I only send wines that I have personally enjoyed and, where possible I was hoping to avoid the obvious export brands like Penfolds, Henschke etc Nothing against these brands at all, they make some of the country ‘s best wines, but I deliberately wanted to stay away from the iconic brands to an extent. 

 

 

So I ended up using www.wine.comand ordered four great wines of different varieties. The wines I selected where the Petaluma 2007 Hanlin Hill Riesling, Cape Mentelle 2006 Chardonnay, Two Hands 2007 Gnarly Dudes Shiraz and the Two Hands 2006 Brilliant Disguise Moscato. All wines arrived in Manhattan within a few days of my order and emails kept me up-to-date as to my orders status, so full points awarded to www.wine.com for an easy-to-use and professional service.

 

Henry got in touch to thank me for the wines and said that in light of the collection I had sent him that he would run a small wine tasting night in Manhattan for a few close friends. I was really excited about this news and hoped my personal wine selections met with approval on the night! Henry agreed to send back the groups collective thoughts on each wine and so without further ado their remarks on each wine are below.

 

Petaluma 2007 Hanlin Hill Clare Valley Riesling

(most enjoyable with a zesty twist on the dry side - lovely white wine - thumbs up)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cape Mentelle 2006 Chardonnay

(very light - soft body- gentle appeal - relaxed drop, Sunday afternoon !)

 

 

 

Two Hands 2007 Gnarly Dudes Shiraz

(Deep, ripe, aromatic, powerful yet curiously soft - wonderful wine - two thumbs up)

 (Two Hands Cellar Door, Barossa Valley)

Two Hands 2006 Brilliant Disguise Moscato

(Light, delicate sweetness, fruity, tropical, great light wine with a fizz of flavour! thumbs up)

 

I confirmed with Henry that his two thumbs up for the Two Hands, 07 Gnarly Dudes Shiraz was his way of confirming it was the groups favourite wine of the night, but as I had hoped all wines were thoroughly enjoyed!

While the Cape Mentelle and Petaluma Riesling are readily available from most leading wine retailers the Two Hands wines are a little but harder to find so I recommend ordering directly from there website.

I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Henry for his generosity, friendliness and his time in reporting back to me both he and his friends views on some great Australian wines!

By Farr - 2006 Chardonnay

 

I am going to keep this review pretty short and sweet... the By Farr Chardonnay has with a few short sips become one of my all time favourite white wines, period! The 2006 I had was beautiful and I cannot wait to get my hands on the 2007 very soon!

By Farr - Chardonnay 2006
Price - $55 at cellar door and online at www.byfarr.com.au
Region - Geelong, VIC
Recommended - Definitely, it is excellence in a glass!