CHARDONNAY ’S versatility makes it Australia’s most sought after white grape variety.This remarkable grape is comfortable assorted climatic conditions where it always gives different but excellent results.
CHARDONNAY ’S versatility makes it Australia’s most sought after white grape variety.
This remarkable grape is comfortable assorted climatic conditions where it always gives different but excellent results.
Oak treated or unwooded it makes fine wines, barrel fermented and crafted it makes stunningly complex beauties and with its partner in sparking wine blends, pinot noir, it is a must in a bottle of bubbles.
I am a card-carrying member of the chardonnay set and I make no apologies for this tale of two chardonnays, a pair of the same grape that wear the Rosemount label but are completely different.
First is the 2000 Diamond Label Rosemount’s “people’s chardonnay”. It is synonymous with this growing wine company and can be bought for $15 and under.
Winemaker Philip Shaw has heeded the nation’s love affair with chardonnay grown in cool climates yet still maintains the creaminess contributed by warmer temperatures by staying with a good portion of Hunter Valley fruit in the blend. Cold-climate grown chardonnay adds spiciness and zest along with wonderful tropical fruit character.
This famous Australian chardonnay has benefited from Shaw’s innovative winemaking and if you are one of the army of fans of the Diamond Label you will notice a brighter, lifted personality in the structure.
Many think this wine is unwooded but it isn’t. It has a faint hint of the forest, which is perfectly integrated and came about while a portion of the wine rested in French oak and underwent malolactic fermentation that further added to the creaminess.
Winemaker Shaw has given this white a genuine personality of its own, though slightly more aloof and refined than what previous vintages offered. To my tastes, it’s an improvement.
At the other end of the Rosemount chardonnay scale is the crafted 1999 Hunter Valley Show Reserve chardonnay.
Elegantly dressed in black, white and gold, the label sports extra gold with three well-deserved medals.
These signify 1999 Winery of the Year Award from the International Wine Competition, 1999 Premium White Wine of the Year from the Australian Liquor Industry and 1999 Winemaker of the Year, Philip Shaw’s accolade from The Wine Magazine.
This is a flash white and certainly the Hunter Valley at its very best – a classy chardonnay for which you will pay around $25.50.
This white has the character to attract people who prefer reds – an excellent demonstration of the winemaker’s craft – and very much a food wine.
This hand-made wine has been given the full treatment. Grapes were hand picked, fermentation took place in French oak casks where it lay for 10 months building personality in these wooden wombs.
Vintage 1999 was kind to the chardonnay, with ideal growing and ripening conditions coming from Rosemount’s two principal Hunter Valley vineyards.
Even then the Show Reserve chardonnay came from favoured patches of vines. The upper slopes of Roxburgh Vineyard contributed chardonnay that added much of the richness and complexity.
Also from high country was the fruit from Giants Creek, way above the Goulburn River. Here the fruit thrives on sandstone, which forms the sandy loam of the vineyard. These two fruit portions made the foundation blocks of this elegant Hunter white.
I found the 1999 vintage surpassed the previous year at a trot. The current release shows aristocratic finesse and a collection of flavours that send your palate on a taste adventure. This is a white that will cellar well for eight years or so.
This remarkable grape is comfortable assorted climatic conditions where it always gives different but excellent results.
Oak treated or unwooded it makes fine wines, barrel fermented and crafted it makes stunningly complex beauties and with its partner in sparking wine blends, pinot noir, it is a must in a bottle of bubbles.
I am a card-carrying member of the chardonnay set and I make no apologies for this tale of two chardonnays, a pair of the same grape that wear the Rosemount label but are completely different.
First is the 2000 Diamond Label Rosemount’s “people’s chardonnay”. It is synonymous with this growing wine company and can be bought for $15 and under.
Winemaker Philip Shaw has heeded the nation’s love affair with chardonnay grown in cool climates yet still maintains the creaminess contributed by warmer temperatures by staying with a good portion of Hunter Valley fruit in the blend. Cold-climate grown chardonnay adds spiciness and zest along with wonderful tropical fruit character.
This famous Australian chardonnay has benefited from Shaw’s innovative winemaking and if you are one of the army of fans of the Diamond Label you will notice a brighter, lifted personality in the structure.
Many think this wine is unwooded but it isn’t. It has a faint hint of the forest, which is perfectly integrated and came about while a portion of the wine rested in French oak and underwent malolactic fermentation that further added to the creaminess.
Winemaker Shaw has given this white a genuine personality of its own, though slightly more aloof and refined than what previous vintages offered. To my tastes, it’s an improvement.
At the other end of the Rosemount chardonnay scale is the crafted 1999 Hunter Valley Show Reserve chardonnay.
Elegantly dressed in black, white and gold, the label sports extra gold with three well-deserved medals.
These signify 1999 Winery of the Year Award from the International Wine Competition, 1999 Premium White Wine of the Year from the Australian Liquor Industry and 1999 Winemaker of the Year, Philip Shaw’s accolade from The Wine Magazine.
This is a flash white and certainly the Hunter Valley at its very best – a classy chardonnay for which you will pay around $25.50.
This white has the character to attract people who prefer reds – an excellent demonstration of the winemaker’s craft – and very much a food wine.
This hand-made wine has been given the full treatment. Grapes were hand picked, fermentation took place in French oak casks where it lay for 10 months building personality in these wooden wombs.
Vintage 1999 was kind to the chardonnay, with ideal growing and ripening conditions coming from Rosemount’s two principal Hunter Valley vineyards.
Even then the Show Reserve chardonnay came from favoured patches of vines. The upper slopes of Roxburgh Vineyard contributed chardonnay that added much of the richness and complexity.
Also from high country was the fruit from Giants Creek, way above the Goulburn River. Here the fruit thrives on sandstone, which forms the sandy loam of the vineyard. These two fruit portions made the foundation blocks of this elegant Hunter white.
I found the 1999 vintage surpassed the previous year at a trot. The current release shows aristocratic finesse and a collection of flavours that send your palate on a taste adventure. This is a white that will cellar well for eight years or so.
