No, I don’t just drink Eden Valley wines. I bought this for a reason. I wanted a Chardonnay that was big on flavour and 100% malo. I was craving it & this larger than life wine generally provides that in different forms. Year in, year out.
60% saw nine months in new French barriques, stirred (not shaken). It pours out a fairly rich yellow gold colour, as it has in the past. On the nose it appears almost like everything in this wine has been grilled for extra effect. Grilled yellow peaches & grilled cashews (well, maybe they were roasted, but you get my point) with some ripe figs, rich quality oak, hazelnuts, cream and some grapefruit, baking spice & lemon to even things out a bit.
The entry feels/tastes HUGE. A big whack of the grilled stuff and figs then tempered by the grapefruit and citrus like acid before the creamy mid palate and some spice on the finish. I was reading a Ken Gargett article this morning describing a certain wine’s shape as being akin to a tadpole. I was going to go with reverse pear, but I think tadpole is much better. It begins with such a whack of flavour and richness that it seems to thin out and taper towards the end.
But that’s the thing… Would I really want that intense entry to power through the whole palate? Wasn’t the “tapering” in part due to the wine having a decent structure? And it does. Big as it was, the line of acid and grapefruit held the beat. I shared a 2004 of this wine earlier in the year and it was drinking very well indeed and was not about to get “flabby” within the next two years at least. I think if you are going to label this Chardonnay with the tadpole descriptor you’re best off pointing out that it’s partially comparative and not necessarily a bad thing.
Either way, if you’ve limited all your options for pleasure in this world to fine-boned, elegant, waif-like beauty this is not going to suit you. Fortunately for me, I haven’t. Which is why I’ll buy another bottle sometime when the craving arises. Maybe it isn’t a brilliant wine but I sure as all heck enjoyed it.
Winery Website- http://www.mountadam.com.au/about/history/
Jeremy,
Just opened a bottle tonight and agree with the descriptors.
In terms of shape, a tadpole is not too bad for chardonnay, but awful for a pinot noir. . .
I must admit to feeling some insecurity when writing my notes, so it's always gratifying to read that someone has tasted similar things in a wine. Thanks Edward.
As for tadpoles and Pinots, fortunately I haven't had to experience an example of that this festive season so far. I'm in full agreement with the idea that it wouldn't work quite so well. Opens up the whole question of which "shapes" suit which grapes…
Hope you're having a great holiday and best wishes for the new year!
Cheers
jeremy
I have been drinking loads of this wine over the past 12 months, probably 1 to 2 bottles a month, yeap around 18 botts all up. It hasn’t budged one inch in 12 months and still has many many years ahead of it. It is possibly one of the biggest Chard’s I’ve had, dominated by peachy stone fruit flavours. I do like it, indeed i do, but I couldn’t drink it all the time, I need to be in a mood, a mood like I want to rock!!