Singlefile Family Reserve Chardonnay 2011

Singlefile Family Reserve Chardonnay 2011 (Denmark, WA)
13.3%, Screwcap, $45

Every year these Singlefile wines get better. Every year the back labels get smaller. A linear relationship?

Regardless this is a smart wine. Hand-picked from the 1989 plantings of Phil and Viv Snowden, this was whole-bunch pressed and fermented over 21 days with both ambient and cultured yeast, matured in a mix of 40% new/60% old oak for nine months.

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What’s most impressive is just how fine this is – carefully balanced, the oak just honeysuckle rich with a real sun-kissed brightness. Fruit rich, the flavours generous and full over a slightly spiky and somewhat lumpy palate – classy layers, stumbling only when trying to resolve the flavour richness.

This is ultimately pretty clever, very modern and carefully made, modern WA Chardonnay.

Source: Sample
Tasted: February 2014
Drink: 2014-2017
Score: 17.7/20, 92/100
Would I buy it? Two glasses