Ravens Croft Chardonnay 2011

Simple packaging. Unrespected region. Fully priced. From the outset it doesn’t quite make a compelling case. Still, it’s what inside that counts, which is a wild fermented Chardonnay sourced from a plot at 950m in Stanthorpe. Curiously, this sees both American and French oak, which is a very odd combination (American oak? For a Chardonnay?).

It smells and tastes like a half worked wine too. Half-worked, with that modern, white peach and grapefruit lean edge to the nose before fanning out into a peachy and quite broad (and oaky), mealy palate that just gets fatter to finish (and I’d question whether this should see any MLF – it looks soft enough).

A pleasant enough wine perhaps, but one that throws as much question marks as it does answers…

Drink: 2013-2015
Score: 15.5/20 85/100
Would I buy it? No.