1999 Penny Hill's Chardonnay (McLaren Vale, Australia)

[wondersofwine]

13.5% alcohol
This Chardonnay, medium-gold in color, carried a nose of crisp apple and yeasty buns (perhaps what others refer to as bread dough). I tasted some rich, chewy white fruits on the mid-palate. It was well made in its style but I prefer the Trevor Jones Virgin Chardonnay (unwooded) posted a few entries down. The label says "not overly wooded" and I would say this falls between the virgin style of the Trevor Jones and the heavily oaky style of some California chards. I did a bit more searching and found that it is distributed in the UK and the 2002 vintage was listed at Morrell (NYC) for $19.95 ($14.99 and $16.99 at other NYC and DC stores). Morrell says of Penny's Hill that 1995 was the first vintage and it has already established a reputation for elegant, precise wines sold at reasonable prices. The notes say the 2002 Chardonnay (not the 1999 vintage I had) expresses tropical, exotic fruit typical of Australian Chardonnay with a cool, crisp structure more typical of white Burgundies. They praise the exemplary balance of fruit, oak, and acidity rarely found in Australian Chardonnays. If you can tolerate small amounts of oak in your Chardonnays you may want to try this one. As I said, it is very well made for its style.

[Drew]

They make a real nice shiraz also.

Drew