Perhaps I’m in the minority but I believe Voyager’s Chardonnay has been on the improve over the last couple of vintages. I attribute a lot of that to more judicious use of oak.
Spiced pear, grapefruit, white nectarine, toast and nougat with textural nous and a mineral backbone. Fine acidity. Not a hair out of place. It has intensity but it’s never really fruit sweet. The back-palate centres on savoury almonds with just a hint of smoked oyster shell. Delicious drinking now with some time up its sleeve. Just depends on your tastes as to when you want to crack a bottle. 94
Region: Margaret River
Alcohol: 13.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $45
Tasted: November 2013
How many great vintages in a row for the Margaret River now? I usually like Margaret River Chard’s with some bottle ageing, they generally pull together well and all of those “lots going on” things seem to find a nice balance with each other after 4 or 5 years.
Is this a little different? Ready to go now?
For me, yes this is drinking well now. But it’s reasonably restrained in terms of Margaret River Chardonnay so it’ll do five years in a canter. My personal taste leads me to drink these a bit earlier than most people…but this is by no means an ‘early drinker’ in terms of the region or style. Many people will find it more enjoyable with more time in the bottle. And I wouldn’t find it less than pleasurable with five or so years on it myself. Just depends on my mood and the food really.
Minority, yes. 2002 was one out of the box, as was 2006 and 2007. I’d say they are consistently excellent, but not necessarily better recently.
Liked 2006. Never tried 2002. 2007 I had last year. Too much oak and brashness for my tastes. I do like the direction they are heading so I’m happy to ‘champion’ it even if many/most disagree.