Balgownie’s Estate chardonnay is sourced from its warmer Bendigo vineyard, rather than the Yarra Valley where Balgownie Estate is also setup, as I was expecting. Bendigo and chardonnay don’t usually appear in the same sentence, being prime shiraz and decent cabernet country, but the wine showed well anyway. The 2010 estate chardonnay is sourced from vines with an average of 31 years of age. The grapes were fermented in new and old French oak and then saw a further 11 months of ageing in oak.
The wine itself? It immediately identifies itself as chardonnay – intense, ripe yellow nectarine, lemon, oak and red grapefruit jostle for position aromatically. Similar flavours emerge on the palate – oak, bread, balanced acidity and evidence of some unripe pineapple flavours, retaining though lemon citrus edges. The length and balance of this wine hold it together. Tasting it over half a day, there is a certain oak defined line and length to this wine, but it’s a good example of a chardonnay that people would probably glug if it had a cooler region (in its two senses) affixed to its label. Good (and probably a tick over towards Very Good)
Abv: 13%
Price: $45
Source: sample
Vendors: Check http://www.wine-searcher.com/
Website: www.balgownieestate.com.au
Tasted: 2012
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