I’ve just arrived home from a week reacquainting myself with the Granite Belt – high country in Queensland. There are still some poor wines made within the region and also many that are crafted at a purely commercial level to generate income from the tourists that frequent the area…but at the pointy end the wines have come a long way. This Chardonnay is the best I’ve tasted from winemaker Mark Ravenscroft. It’s fermented entirely with wild yeast. Half of the fruit stays in stainless steel while the other half sees only French oak. Great to see the American oak that marred previous releases omitted this time round. It really does make a difference.
Marked by grapefruit and mineral parameters which impart a sense of gravitas. The slightly smoky cedar oak is prominent but well-played. There’s a degree of textural complexity here that is laudable while the finish is long and flinty. As it opens up sweeter stonefruits and a drizzle of honey mix with savoury almond characters. Complex and satisfying. 92
Region: Granite Belt
Alcohol: 13.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $35
Tasted: December 2013
We were up there briefly two weekends ago, and found the same sort of thing in terms of how the spread of wines sits these days.
Interested to see what else you liked this trip,
I’ll cover most of the wines I enjoyed before Xmas Andrew – and it’s worth noting that I only requested samples of wines that I rated highly. I’m a little too busy to cover the other end of the spectrum at this time of year. The region deserves an article but that will be taken care of in an upcoming issue of the Wine Companion magazine.