A panel gathered in Brisbane recently to review 30 top Chardonnays, almost all of which were Australian. The aim of the tasting panel looks to asses if producers are making progress within the premium-to-super-premium Chardonnay bracket…whilst comparing against reviewed work of The WineFront (TWF) review team. We have been permitted to share some very top-line details of the article, but you can read all of the comments/reviews/details HERE.
The 2023 Review tasting line-up consisted of the following thirty wines, and notes each TWF rating and reviewer:
- Pierro VR Reserve Chardonnay 2020 GW 97
- Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2021 GW 97
- Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2021 GW 97+
- Bannockburn SRH Chardonnay 2021 CM 96
- Granjoux Chardonnay 2021 CM 96
- Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay 2021 (Decanter World Wine Awards Winner)
- Ashton Hills Reserve Chardonnay 2022 CM 96
- Giant Steps Tarraford Chardonnay 2022 CM 96
- Giant Steps Applejack Chardonnay 2022 CM 96
- Murdoch Hill ‘The Rocket’ Chardonnay 2022 MB 96
- Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 GW 96
- Montalto ‘The Eleven’ Chardonnay 2022 CM 96
- Gentle Folk Piccadilly Chardonnay 2022 MB 96
- Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 MB 96
- Bannockburn SRH Chardonnay 2022 CM 97
- By Farr Chardonnay 2022 CM 96
- Bodega Chacra Chardonnay 2022 GW 96
- Savaterre Chardonnay 2022 GW 97
- Sorrenberg Chardonnay 2022 MB 97
- Cobaw Ridge Chardonnay 2022 MB 96+
- Sentio Beechworth Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 CM 96
- McHenry Hohnen Burnside Chardonnay 2022 GW 96
- Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 GW 97+
- Place of Changing Winds Larderdark Chardonnay 2022 MB 96
- Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay 2022 CM 96
- Stella Bella Luminosa Chardonnay 2022 (Decanter World Wine Awards Winner)
- Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay 2023 GW 96
- Tapanappa Tiers 1.5M Chardonnay 2023 GW 96
- Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay 2023 GW 96
- Bubb + Pooley Chardonnay 2023 GW 96
An exert from ‘Around the Chardonnay grounds’
Beechworth
“Though we have a big contingent from Beechworth – some from 2021 and others from 2022 it could easily have been much larger. The excellent 2022 Domenica and Brokenwood Inigo Vineyard Chardonnays just missed out on a qualifying rating and the 2022 Schmölzer & Brown Brunnen Chardonnay, which did get a qualifying rating, has not yet been released to the public. Rick Kinzbrunner’s 2022 Giaconda Nantua Les Deux Chardonnay was not rated by TWF but was excellent and I thought seriously about adding it to the line-up. A. Rodda Smith’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 would also have been a worthy addition had space permitted.” Read more… By John S. Humphrey.
Our Beechworth Chardonnay results were as follows:
97 – 97+ points
Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2021, Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2022, Granjoux Chardonnay 2021.
96 – 96+ points
Sorrenberg Chardonnay 2022, Savaterre Chardonnay 2022, Sentio Beechworth Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2022.
As you would hope (and expect), all six of the Beechworth Chardonnays were in the top two groups – which all showed very well on the day. John S. Humphrey continues…
“To finish in the top group a wine must score consistently highly. As might be expected there can be and were some reasonable variations in the scoring of individual wines between Panel members.”
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To read the full article, as posted on WineFront.com.au click here.
Image credit: Erin Davis-Hartwig.