Cloudy Bay Marlborough Chardonnay 2012

I’m deep into a cold this week, which means that I can’t smell or taste much at all – I missed a vertical of Te Mata Coleraine just this morning, to rub it in. Even the hardcore Codral – the sort kept under the counter) isn’t helping.

Balls.

This Chardonnay, though, I drank on the weekend, before things got bad. It’s on the list at the Sydney Open Air Cinema and it’s now a go-to drink every visit.

The key to the appeal here is it’s old school Marlborough Chardonnay richness, with caramel, biscuit oak and ripe peach fruit very much a part of the design, backed by grapefruit acidity.

The only distractions here is the warmth and slight flab through the middle, which makes it just a little heavy after a while, Still, this feels like the best of last generation Oz Chard – properly ripe fruit, given top shelf oak and built for mouthfeel, yet with acid cut.

Enjoyable drink.

Details: 13.5%, Screwcap, $48
Tasted: February ’15
Best drinking: 2015-2019
Score: 18/20, 93/100
Would I buy it? Yes, clearly
Buy online: Dan Murphys, Moet Hennessey website