There’s a 2011 Yarra vintage leanness to this year’s Hoddles Creek Chardonnay but it doesn’t want for complexity, texture or flavour. As a young wine I do find elements of it challenging and for me, it’s more cerebral than delicious in its youth. My money’s on it aging very well though.
A limey acid spine that verges on being tinged green. There’s grapefruit and nectarine, and I suspect the latter will fill out the palate with age. Marzipan and acacia add further interest aromatically. Oatmeal too. Indeed, it becomes very mealy on the midpalate as it opens up. The finish is long and driven – there’s a piercing line here but the wine manages to avoid sharp, hard edges with some surprisingly gentle curves in the mix. The cool hints of sourness won’t be for everybody but make no mistake – this is another bargain from Hoddles Creek. Just give it some more time in the bottle if you can. Very Good
Region: Yarra Valley
Alcohol: 13.2%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $19.99
Tasted: June 2012
I’ve had strange experiences with this wine. The first bottle was more or less as you say. Nice, but ytending towards limey acids. The second didn’t show any detectable greenness, and was more open-knit too, and all the better for it. Both bottles bought from the same retailer. Was it mood, bottle variation, who knows? Perhaps the second bottle was more settled, and a better window into the wine’s future.
MichaelC
The ‘greeness’ did become less of a factor as the bottle opened up over the course of a day. I’m fairly confident the future looks quite bright for this wine, as you suggest Michael. And yes, that ’10 Hoddles 1er Pinot was pretty spectacular. I’m tempted to get some more while it’s available at retail.
Cheers
J