De Bortoli Windy Peak Chardonnay 2006

Onwards with cheap wine. Despite the low price (a smidge over $10), I had high expectations of this wine, mostly because my experience of De Bortoli Yarra Valley wines has been so positive of late. They seem to consistently deliver more than one might expect at their respective price points, and even the lower range wines are made with a clear idea of desired style.

This wine's a little dumb on the nose, giving subdued aromas of cool climate chardonnay fruit (grapefruit-like) and cashew. The wine's entry livens things considerably and it's only in the mouth that this wine's good generosity of flavour becomes apparent. The entry is clean and linear, and leads to a middle palate that's all about fruit supported by creamy, slightly caramel oak. The fruit flavour is relatively simple but very correct and tasty. There are supporting nutty flavours and a mouthfeel that balances creaminess with slightly coarse acidity well. Some bitter phenolics kick in towards the finish and serve to cleanse the palate. Unremarkable length.

Ok, so it's simple, not especially expressive on the nose, and finishes a bit short. It's also clearly regional, very well made, and bloody tasty. The thinking person's quaffing wine.

Lillydale Estate Chardonnay 2006

A couple of bottles of the 2005 were consumed with friends earlier this year, and fun times ensued. I chose this wine to have last night because I thought it would a) be a nice contrast to the Brand's we had earlier, and b) go well with the salmon that my other half was preparing for dinner.

It did go well with the food. We started drinking it, however, on its own, and I found the nose somewhat reticent. Light, fine aromas of white peach and grapefruit emerged, framed by wispy vanilla/oak notes. The palate expands on these flavours, and I found both palate and nose notable for their good flavour integration. Nothing stands out unduly, everything is in balance, though the wine is quite restrained, overall. There's a line of acidity that runs under the palate and is quite firm, without being coarse. With food, the wine's fruit flavours emerged more strongly on the palate, and a rather nice roundness developed, especially of the grapefruity flavours. The oak, if anything, is a bit straightforward but, mercifully, is not hugely assertive either. With some time in glass, a struck match/rotten egg note became more prominent and, for me, distracting. I left some in a glass and, this morning, found the note had receded to an acceptably low level, though it did not disappear entirely.

So, an elegant, cool climate chardonnay that seems well made and has good fruit. Perhaps it was my mood last night, but the wine, though enjoyable, didn't really get me very excited. I kept wanting it to be that bit more expressive.

Brand's Laira Coonawarra Chardonnay 2005

This wine makes a refreshing change from the lean, mean chardonnays I have been drinking of late. It feels in some ways like a blast from the past, being a much softer style of wine. I used a bit of this in cooking the chicken with cream sauce we had last night, the rest being reserved for drinking with the meal. It disappeared pretty quickly.

The nice thing about this wine is that it is an unashamedly rich, round style of chardonnay that is also in balance. It's just that the balance is completely different from the acid-driven wines that seem to be the new wave in Australian chardonnay. Instead of being aggressively structured and brightly flavoured, this wine is pure peaches and cream smoothness. The nose is moderately expressive and is basically lightly spicy peaches and vanilla cream. Soft and round and slightly sweet. The palate is consistent with this, but much amplified, and adds a caressing mouthfeel to the mix. There are hints of malo butter/butterscotch in there, but these notes are not over the top. At first I thought this wine had traded in all its acid, but in fact it's still there, just in the background, providing a bit of support for the wine's structure. Oak seems to provide body and flavour rather than being the main event.

This is such a nice quaffing wine, and I mean that in the best way. It's well made, with attractive flavours, good balance, and a very high drinkability rating. Our bottle disappeared pretty quickly. But I can imagine someone who preferred a more Chablis style hating this wine. Oh, it's also pretty good value. I think I paid about $15 for this at Dan's.

Yalumba Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2005

This was at 1st Choice for around the $16 mark and, having read some some good notices on the 'net, I picked it up to try. I've been getting into chardonnay lately and remember loving the Yalumba FDW[7c] at cellar door.

What an awesome wine. The aromas on this wine are super funky, and incredibly complex for this price point. Aside from the funky yeasty characters, there's also vanilla and clean fruit smells. The palate continues this theme consistently, the clarity of the fruit and smooth mouthfeel a highlight. Lovely creaminess too. Great balance.

You'd be hard pressed to find a more interesting chardonnay at this price. A repeat buy for sure.

Seppelt Jaluka Chardonnay 2006

I enjoyed the 2005 vintage of this wine and have, consequently, been looking forward to the release of the 2006. I picked up a bottle on the weekend and eagerly cracked the Stelvin cap last night.

Like the 2005, this wine is at the tight, minerally end of the chardonnay style spectrum. Initially, the nose was quite dumb and I had to work hard to get much out of it. An hour or so in glass helped the wine to open up and deliver tight, shimmery aromas of honeydew melon and creamy vanilla. The palate is where the action lies with this wine, at the moment anyway. This is because the acidity is exceptionally tight and focused, and quite "sizzly" in character. In fact, the quality of the acidity reminded me of the 2005 Seppelt Drumborg Riesling, though perhaps not showing such dominance in the Jaluka, perhaps due to the chardonnay's greater body and weight. In terms of flavour profile, this wine displays fine, tight citrus and melon fruit alongside vanilla cream and roasted nuts, with a spicy oak backdrop. But it's all so tight at the moment, the wine really needs a bit of time to relax and let its flavours express themselves more fully.

I have a few 2005s in the cellar and, on the basis of last night's tasting of the 2006, I'm tempted to get a few of those too. I think, overall, I prefer the 2006. Although very similar wines, the 2006 seems to display an extra edge of intensity, flavour balance and elegance of structure. We had this wine with a creamy pasta dish, and the combination worked well.

Tyrrell's Moon Mountain Chardonnay 2006

Cheap chardonnay -- those two words strike fear into the hearts of many. But I'm open minded, especially where a bargain is to be had. Plus, I've really enjoyed the Vat 47 so obviously Tyrrell's knows how to make a good chardonnay.

This one, however, suffers from oak that, whilst not overbearing, is for my taste completely lacking in interest. The rest of the wine is actually quite nice. It's on the fresher side, with lemon and cashew flavours, and refreshing acidity. It is also quite creamy in the mouth, presumably from lees stirring. No malo flavours that I could detect. So in terms of weight, it strikes a nice balance between a new-fashioned lean chardonnay and a butterscotch monster.

But that oak. It's just so boring. It tastes like, well, wood. And, despite the rest of the wine being quite nice, I sort of honed in on the boring wood flavour while drinking, which ruined the wine a bit for me. Still, pretty good value.