2019 Tyrrell’s Chardonnay, Hunter Valley, Australia (Alcohol 12.5%, Residual Sugar 2 g/l) LCBO Vintages $24.95 (750ml glass bottle)
You’d expect a fifth generation of winemakers to have a handle on what they were up to, and that’s certainly the case here with Tyrrell’s 2019 Chardonnay from Australia’s Hunter Valley; it’s a bona fide cracker.
Sourced from a number of sources across the Pokolbin area, this is a classic example of Hunter Chardonnay, a balanced, lower alcohol medium-bodied wine with ripe fruit and excellent definition, something that’s certainly worthy of your attention.
With a few years on it, this wine is just coming into its own. It has that distinctively high natural acidity, as is the case with many of the better wines from the Hunter Valley, giving it some room to grow into itself and evolve properly.
The lovely bouquet is one of ripe apple, peach, and pineapple, with some alluring nuttiness; there’s a touch of warm French oak spice on here too., the wine having seen both old and new barrels after a stainless steel ferment.
The palate is tropical, rich, creamy, leesy, and textural, but with a streak of trademark Hunter Valley acid pinning the whole thing together. The balance here is remarkable and makes for a pretty serious glass of wine. The finish is extended and decidedly mineral (think: cracked oyster shells).
An excellent wine for the money, and extremely versatile when it comes to food pairing. Because of that mineral element, I found this utterly perfect with East Coast oysters.
(Four and a half out of a possible five apples)
