Adelaide Hills 12.5% Screwcap $8-10 Source- Retail
Another wine of excellent value from Mike Press. It’s unwooded but we’ll get to that soon…
Very light straw yellow for a Chardonnay. It’s mostly about grapefruit, melons, apples and nectarines & it’s strongly regional. The mid palate offers up softer contrasts to a lively citrus entry and moves towards a more overt tropical spectrum alongside the honeydew melons before more tart flavours re-assert themselves on a fine finish of some finesse. It’s refreshing and crisp but retains enough interest, minerality and complexity to make it more than just another quaffer. There are some grassy notes on the nose and back palate.
And that’s where the debate goes on (and on and on). Firstly, many wine enthusiasts question the worth of Australian “unwooded” Chardonnay. This isn’t flinty and won’t be confused with Chablis. The fruit is certainly good enough to warrant oak had the wine maker chosen to go that way. But that same fruit is of ample quality to stand alone. I doubt this is going to change the mind of anyone who believes Oz Chardonnay needs oak. I notice that James Halliday has written a few things recently that seem to indicate he is not in that camp (about this wine and an unwooded Chardonnay from Watershed). So that’s one strong champion for “the cause”.
I think, though, that it is the number of casual drinkers I know who are put off by oak in Chardonnay who will end up determining the style’s viability in this country. I’ve already poured this for two such drinkers and they both enjoyed it and would definitely consider buying it at the price. Neither of those two would even bother to look in the Chardonnay aisle generally. They associate Chardonnay with barrel ferment and/or maturation and just don’t enjoy it. I can’t see how providing a good Chardonnay for people with those tastes is a bad thing.
The other related debate is on Chardonnays that possess Sauvignon Blanc type characters. The tropical fruits and grassy flavours put this in that camp. This is sometimes depicted as a (cynical) move to sway the Sav Blanc crowd back towards Chardonnay. I don’t think that Australian drinkers are short of quality Chardonnay that in no way resembles Savy, so I can’t say it bothers me much. And I seriously doubt that anyone would suggest that any Mike Press wine is an opportunist grab at an audience anyway.
I was also discussing the matter briefly with well known wine writer who seemed to be of the opinion that there wasn’t any need to label these wines “unwooded“. I tend to agree. And on my more radical days I wonder if all this fuss could be avoided if the wine was called the 2009 Mike Press “White”. If a winery has produced a wine that tastes good at a great price, does it really matter that much if it is varietally correct or not?
At sub $10 just grab a bottle and decide for yourself I reckon. I’ll give it the thumbs up without going quite so far as awarding it 94 points…
Winery Website- http://www.topdropwines.com.au/
Jeremy, cheers for this TN, as much for the TN itself aswell as the wider discussion on oaked vs. unoaked Chardonnay.
I'm glad you enjoyed it Stu. I'm certainly sometimes guilty of using a tasting note heading to pursue a broader issue
Nice to know it's not too off putting!
cheers
jeremy
A good read Jeremy. I'm not averse to a wider ramble, so I enjoyed it.
The MP's are excellent value aren't they – pity about the lack of effort on the labels though I reckon.
cheers
TC
Thanks Tim. The MPs are fantastic value, no doubt. The labels could do with an overhaul though. I gave one to my neighbours and told them it drinks better than it looks
Cheers
jeremy
Jeremy, I think in this case the pursuit of the broader issue is very topical. When brand Australia is being knocked, and the heavily oaked Chardonnays were one of the prime targets of the, err, knockers its really great to see a real diverse range of Chardonnays out there (oaked or unoaked).
It's always nice to be able to say to an ABCer when they proclaim their dislike of Chardonnay: "well, which kind?".
I've certainly gone out of my way this Christmas to try and pick up a few chardonnays that I'm hopeful will offer some variety and demonstrate the strength and depth of Aussie winemaking.
Yeah, the ABC movement was always kind of on the nose for me. As you say, "which kind of Chardonnay don't you like?" So long as the diversity of Australian Chardonnay remains and the quality is good I'm happy. And I'm fairly sure it will.
The range of styles of Chardonnay that will be amongst those I pull from the cellar this Xmas is going to be extremely diverse in itself. But they're all oaked in some manner, so I'm sure the Mike Press will find its own niche on my table.