Concours International des vins a' Lyon 2013 - Gold
Regular Spring rains delivered excellent vine canopy growth, and budburst was a touch earlier than average. Overall harvest was down a touch on the average, but the report is that quality was outstanding across all varieties, with intense colour and excellent flavour development.
The aim here is to design a wine that shows delicacy and finesse. One that can be enjoyed now, but still develop for the years to come.
The wine comes up a youthful pale straw colour with a slight green hue to the edges of the glass. It has ripe citrus aromas along with stone fruit and a subtle flinty note. Enticing sweet spice and vanilla oak lift add complexity to the bouquet.
This is a medium bodied, yet sumptuous wine with an enjoyable creaminess to the mid-palate. Flavours of plump juicy fruit are evident along with cleansing citrus at the finish which has wonderful persistence and length from the use of quality French oak
Blue Gold Winner: Sydney International Wine Competition (2013) GOLD MEDALS 2014 World Wine Championship BTI 2014 Monde Selections International Wine Contest 2014 The Global Chardonnay Masters 2014 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2014 China Wine & Spirits Awards 2014 Mundus Vini International Wine Awards
Judges' Comments: Cameron Douglas- A bold richly oaked style. It has roasted stone fruit flavours and vanillin spice with medium plus acidity. It’s a balanced well made wine and I liked the mineral struck match layer. It’s a sound food and wine match.
Bryan Currie- Pale straw in colour. Mealy gun smoke stone fruit. A crisp and linear palate. Textural. A fantastic match with the John Dory fillets and peas.
Ken Dobler- A brilliant green colour. Attractive complex stone fruit and ferment aromas on the nose. An excellent complex palate with exceptional length and lovely complexity in the wine which sat very well with food.
Neil Hadley- There is a light orange and lime character to the nose with a delicate oak background. The wine is nicely structured and quite textural in the mouth combining good middle weight ripe fruit with a gentle but firm oak framework.
Stuart Halliday- Struck match sulphides with a savoury finish. Lovely oak and fruit integration. With the food there was a nice interplay with the peas and the protein of the fish brought out the sweetness.
Sue Bastian- A pale yellow gold colour. A vanilla ice cream cone with tropical fruit salad nose. A very soft palate with lovely rich fruits and creamy but fresh acid. The oak was a little bit dominant with this food match.
Mark Robertson- This wine had a sweaty white peach aroma. Nicely biscuit like as well. The palate is salty and iodine like. It has good lime and oak integration but too much malolactic. The wine needs more acid cut. The flavours are good but I repeat it needs more acid cut. With food it was good. There’s lighter fruit. It’s reliant on the structure which works well with this wine and was marginally successful.
Don't Pay: $38.00
WBW Rating: 96/100
Closure: Stelvin
Region: Clare Valley, SA
Winemaker: Adam Eggins
Drink now until: 2020
Alc/Vol: 12.6 %
