Derwent Estate Chardonnay 2010

Derwent Estate Chardonnay

Derwent Estate Chardonnay 2010 (Derwent Valley, Tasmania)
12%, Screwcap, $35
Source: Sample
www.derwentestate.com.au

The roll of modern Chardonnay continues. It’s not hard to see why good cool climate Chardonnay is en vogue again (or in wine critic circles it is at least), with wines like this pushing forward the idea that good examples of the grape can be both fresh and textural (as it should be).

Speaking of fresh, this Derwent Estate Chardonnay is exactly that. Actually, fresh might be a bit simplistic, for pure is a better word for it. What I can’t believe is that I haven’t reviewed one of these before – I’ve definitely drunk one or two.

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Grapefruit, more grapefruit and just ripe white peach. That’s what the nose here is all about, with
fine vanilla oak on the edges. It’s a very reserved but crystalline nose, with just a fillip of buttermilk MLF
characters. Lovely. Palate too is dry, lean and oh-so-pure with a shapely, two-steps-above-blanc-de-blancs Champagne sort of style that is both super clear yet not under-ripe.

A lovely wine, with the refinement conjuring up images of women in bodices and hats at jaunty angles and such (I’m thinking Pride & Prejudice). That may sound odd, but there is such a fineness to this white that an English scene lik that just pops in (my brain works in mysterious ways). Top piss (there we go. Normal service returns).

Drink: 2012-2015+
Score: 18.5/94