Last weekend we opened the door to our brand new Club Room and hosted the first of a series of Museum tastings.
Check out these gorgeous photos Lucy took…
As you’ve probably guessed, first up was our beloved Chardonnay. We dug down deep into the Museum and presented four back-vintages (starting with 2013) alongside Rob’s two Reserve vintage (2016 and 2020).
Rob took some notes and here is what he had to say…
2013 Chardonnay
Still pale with striking green tints.
Complex nose with hints of toffee which carry through to the soft refined palate.
Beautiful balance.
2014 Chardonnay
Has a terrific lifted toasty nose and a riper richer palate than the 2013.
Great flavour length with the typical elegant Chardonnay citrus peel flavours carried along with the very soft acid and the toasty oak.
2015 Chardonnay
Beautifully complex nose with a hint of French oak and lovely toasted cashew aromas and also a hint of jasmine-like fragrance.
Soft full well-balanced acidity carries the palate through to the long lingering finish.
2016 Chardonnay
Again the complexity is there, with gentle integrated oak and toasty cashews.
Ripe long palate with a faint hint of citrus peel to go with the secondary flavours.
2016 Reserve Chardonnay
Deeper colour than the previous but with wonderfully appealing tints.
Fantastic complex aroma with such a great balance of intense chardonnay fruit with burgundian oak and cashew.
Palate reflects the nose and has great mouthfeel and a fabulous acidity which carries everything along for pretty much ever!
2020 Reserve Chardonnay
Nice depth of colour ahead of a great nose which shows gentle citrus peel Chardonnay notes with nutty cashew and supporting slightly toasty/spicy oak.
The palate is already showing a growing complexity, with all the characteristics on the nose showing up.
Again, terrific soft acid and a modish texture.
Great length.
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And just for interest’s sake, here are the notes I took when we did the same tasting at the beginning of 2021…
2013 Chardonnay
Creamy, delicate and in fact has a bit in common with the Fumes (compared with the other chardonnays!!)!
Rob loved the malolactic flavours and the nice buttery aromas. It has very restrained oak on the nose – not new oak by any means.
Question
Temperature-wise, how long should you wait to drink Chardonnay after you take it out of the fridge?
Rob’s Answer
About quarter of an hour is fine. Always pour too cold rather than the other way around, as in most situations it’ll warm up in the glass (if it cools down you’re in a pretty bleak place!). Also, don’t be afraid to knock these Museum Chardonnays around a bit. Long term cellaring with screw cap can create a sulfidey note, so swirling it in the glass or decanting really lifts the true aromas.
2014 Chardonnay
This one immediately gave the impression of a riper, bigger, richer, more viscous and higher alcohol wine in comparison with the 2013.
Queue intense discussion about who prefers the more delicate 2013 Chardonnay and who prefers the more robust 2014!
Question
But Heather, is it the ’13 or ’14 which goes better with Stirling Chickens?
(We all know Heather’s favourite food and wine pairing is a glass of Chardonnay with roast chicken, chips and coleslaw from the Striling Chicken shop!)
Heather’s answer
My final vote for the overall favourite is the 2014. Having said that I thnk the 2013 will cut through the fats of the chicken meal so nicely that the “chicken-matching” vote is for the 2013.
2015 Chardonnay
The level of oak in the 2015 (as was the case with the 2014 and 2016 to come) is immediately more obvious after the 2013 version. Rob admits that wasn’t a conscious change. He loved the warm lifted oaky notes and thought there was a nice balance between the Chardonnay fruit flavours and the spicy French oak.
The 2015 (and 2016) show lovely nutty cashew flavours from the malolactic fermentation.
2016 Chardonnay
This chardonnay was particularly round, viscous and mouth-filling compared with the others!
And Rob’s final verdict? “The 2016 wins for me! That’s my very favourite on the table today”.
2020 Chardonnay
The consensus was that this was so far the best thing to come out of 2020!
What about me?
Are you kicking yourself for missing the opportunity to join the tasting? Are you annoyed at us for being too far away?
Never fear, we have a handful of bottles from the tasting still available for purchase. They are…
2013: $88/bottle
2014: $88/bottle
2015: $88/bottle
2016: Not available
2016 Reserve: Not available
2020 Reserve: $75/bottle
Plus a special Mixed Pack which includes…
2 x 2013
2 x 2014
2 x 2015
for the very special price of $478
Let me know what you’d like via email and I’ll see what I can rustle up!
Next up
This coming Sunday (16th October) we’ll be doing the same thing again for the Shiraz. We have some sensational back vintages to share along with a very rare glimpse of Rob’s first and only (so far!) Reserve Shiraz (from 2012).
Then on Saturday 22nd we’ll be hosting a Luxury Museum Horizontal Tasting. It will feature dusted off Somerled Chardonnay, Fumé Blanc, Reserve Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, Shiraz and Sparkling Shiraz from the Museum.
We have just a couple of spare tickets, so if you’d like to join us for either of these tastings, please send me an email!