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| The Lane RG Chardonnay Serious vino |
The Lane RG Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2009 (Adelaide Hills, SA)
13.5%, Screwcap, $100
Source: Sample
www.thelane.com.au
It feels a little tawdry to be focusing attention on prices, but it’s hard not to ignore the figures with this wine. $100, for a Chardonnay? And a Chardonnay from a largely unheralded producer at that? Audacious. Gutsy. Statement stuff even. But realistic? Probably not. Not whilst Chardonnay is still at a low ebb in the social consciousness, and especially not when the likes of Leeuwin AS, Pierro, Oakridge 864, Penfolds Reserve Bin et al. all sit underneath that magical three figure mark. In fact, I can only think of two Australian Chardonnays that sell for three figures – Giaconda and Yattarna, both of which have a decade+ worth of megastar vintages to show for the pricetag.
But…
You know what? The juice in the bottle is That Good. The length, the nose, the palate, the lot – all scream top end quality. Scream ‘shit hot booze’ at a volume that is hard to ignore. As a result, I’d say that if dollars aren’t really a concern to you, then seek out a bottle of this just for your own enjoyment. Or just for interest really. The figures don’t quite add up, but the drinking quality does, and in the wrap up that’s all that counts really, doesn’t it?
Anyway, the wine itself – it smells expensive. Of expensive French oak and high quality fruit. It was served blind to me and I thought it was Penfolds Yattarna actually, such was the style and weight on the nose… It’s a lovely nose, full of golden, whipped butter and spicy vanillan wood with a bit of milky way/nougat richness in there. It’s a big and quite oaky nose, but for lovers of Chardonnay it’s absolute pure sex. It’s a lovely, opulent nose whichever way you look at it, even if the nose is a fraction oak heavy.
On the palate: Well, it matches the quality of the nose. It’s long, super long even, linear and dry, with not a hair out of place. Citrus, nougat characters over proper acidity. The whole kaboodle. The finish is immaculate – I kept waiting for a wobble, but it just looked long and dry and fresh. I hate to chuck in the ubiquitous cultural cringe, but there is more than a little Chassagne Montrachet (Burgundy) action in this wine.
In the wash, I’m happy to call this a top flight Australian Chardonnay. Besides the quibble of the oak dominance, this looks so very fine indeed. Is it worth the dollars? I’m not totally convinced, but gee it makes a very strong claim… 18.6/94
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8 Comments
Last time I was at The Lane, I was told they were going to release a new, premium chardonnay, which I assumed was going to be priced in line with The Reunion Shiraz and 19th Meeting Cabernet Sauvignon at $65rrp.
Clearly I was wrong.
Still, it doesn't surprise me this winery has released a $100 chardonnay. I'd be interested to see how well it sells at the fancy cellar door restaurant. Sounds like a good chardy though AG. Clearly the best wine you've had from the label?
Cheers,
Chris P
Good Chardy, easily the best I've had from the label. Oh and I totally forgot about Petaluma Tiers! The 'other' (most) ridiculously priced $100+ Australian Chardonnay. This would be a fair match for Tiers methinks.
A part of me really admires the chutzpah of this aspirational pricing. And given the apparent quality and potential longevity of the wine (Stelzer also gave it a great review), it's not necessarily that expensive on a global scale . . .
Then I come back to reality and think, bloody hell that's expensive!
Good line of thinking there my friend.
The lingering challenge continues to be that this wine's more celebrated contemporaries are cheaper and offer a similar level of quality.
Why, for instance, would you buy a bottle of this when you can have a bottle of the (even more celebrated) Oakridge 864 Chardonnay and have enough left over for a bottle of Voyager Chardonnay?
Ok so we all hate this sort of comparison pricing, particularly as it tends to ignore the reasons why people buy such a wine (which often has little to do with value), yet I'd argue that quality vs price is a supremely important thing to focus upon.
"I hate to chuck in the ubiquitous cultural cringe, but there is more than a little Chassagne Montrachet (Burgundy) action in this wine."
Couldn't help yourself, could you! 🙂
Boring label. I like expensive Chardonnay to have pretty pictures on it, or words like Mersault Perrières.
To be serious now, the thing that does seem a little off-putting is your repeated references to oak. Will it settle? The general thinking is that oak does settle into a Chardonnay with time, but I've had plenty of cellared wines where I almost think it more obvious than it was as a young wine (there is an oily, clovey sort of French oak that seems to get oilier and clovier – early Yattarna was particularly like that, e.g., the 1998).
MichaelC
Will that oak settle? I think so, though it may well be an ongoing feature of the wine. It's good oak though, so I'm calling it as still positive oak, though only time will tell.
And yes the label is boring. And the name is not sexy enough. They should have called it
'The Lane RG Vineyard Single Reserve Ultra Premium Estate Cuvée'. 🙂
(PS Apologies Michael in the tardiness of my response. I've had a dose of man flu this week which has left me largely craving bed, not wine).
Eleven years later and we can report that this Chardonnay is drinking beautifully. Our first impression was indeed something akin to Chassagne Montrachet. The oak has settled in, the fruit has fleshed out and the acid is holding it all together.
We’ve got a few more bottles and I think they should develop further.
Worth the money all those years ago? I would say yes.
Great to hear it is looking so good a decade later