Monday, January 25, 2010

OAKRIDGE CHARDONNAY 2008

- Yarra Valley, VIC
- $20-$32
- Screwcap
- 12.5%alc

In this glorious modern age of Australian chardonnay Oakridge has certainly asserted themselves as a leading practitioner of the great white variety. Now rated among Australia's finest, the 864 Chardonnay sits atop their range, which is partnered by a standard release that's emerging as a consistent over achiever.

The 2008 Oakridge unloads a clean and bright perfume of winemaker derived cashew nuts, nougat and yeast aromas overlying punchy melon and white nectarine; it displays good balance and sophistication. Its charming palate is also brightly laden with Oakridge's typical vitality and character, pushing forth a carefully refined cool-climate fruit profile in the white nectarine/citrus spectrum, which evolves in a more savoury, nutty and waxy fashion towards a persisting climax tightened by well defined and powdery, grapefruit-like acids.

ü+ This is a top notch, well poised and classy expression of cool climate Australian chardonnay. It should nestle nicely into anyone's short term cellar, especially those fortunate enough to locate any for $20 a pop. Drink to 2015.
92 points


4 comments:

  1. Some excellent Chardonnays coming out of the Yarra from 2008. Will keep an eye out for this one.

    Cheers

    jeremy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cheers Jeremy.

    I'd have to agree. Oakridge has certainly become a good place to start for quality Yarra chardonnay at a competitive price. The 2008 Yarra pinots I've had thus far are looking quite good too. It's just a shame about the conditions the region's growers had to endure with the vintages either side of 2008.

    Fingers crossed for 2010!

    Cheers,
    Chris P

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the post as I was trying to track down some review of this as it was on an auction site and I quite fancied putting in a bid

    I won the Auction at $17 so pretty happy with the purchase

    Cheers

    David R

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice work David!

    And I thought it was good value for the cellar at $20 a pop!

    ReplyDelete