- Yarra Valley, VIC - $20-$29
- Screwcap
- 13.0%alc
Despite being caught up in the crazed existence of corporate ownership, Yarra Burn's winemaking team has hardly skipped a beat. A lot of the focus may lean towards Ed Carr and the sparkling wines, but Mark O'Callaghan's done a great job lately with Yarra Burn's white label chardonnay, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon in particular.
The aromatic delicacy expected of 1 year old Yarra Valley chardonnay is evident in Yarra Burn's 2010. Clean and simple, green apple and grapefruit citrus aromas reside in the glass, but its most pleasing feature at the moment may be a light barrel-ferment derived note of white nougat and yeast, which is given an admirable zing by its sharper lemony edge. Essentially mimicking the nose, its palate is very clear and perhaps a bit bland right now, although it is well balanced, not to mention blessed by a lovely richness of flavour which becomes more leesy as it progresses, with a particularly soft yet bright acidity providing good palate extension. The fruit character here is notably lean, or restrained even, so bottle aged development is encouraged.
ü Hmm. Texture, length, acid; check. Fruit flavour... more please. Here we have one of those wines which just seems to lack that something special, although there is clearly nothing wrong with it. I'm possibly being a bit tough here, because there are many other Yarra Valley chardonnays out there cut from the same mould, which just seem better. It is fairly priced though, if perhaps released a little too early for me. Drink 2012-2015.
90 points
Not had one of these for ages. They were always lean and lemony early on, but come good with a couple of yrs on them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever had one of these so young before Sean, but I can see another year or two in the bottle doing it wonders.
ReplyDeleteJust had a bottle of the 2008 on the weekend and I must say - smashing, smashing value, full of genuine, stylish, brightly fruited and savoury chardonnay quality. I could've easily picked it as a $40+ wine. A 92/93 from me :)
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