2004 TarraWarra Estate Reserve Chardonnay
Yarra Valley, Victoria
TarraWarra, in the Yarra Valley is celebrating their twenty-fifth vintage and they have always particularly excelled with Chardonnay. So it was no surprise to see that, as well as releasing their very drinkable TarraWarra Estate Chardonnay and the current Reserve Chardonnay from 2008, for a birthday treat to us, TarraWarra is currently offering the very delicious 2004 Reserve Chardonnay to consumers.
The wine is beautifully preserved (under screwcap): pale lemon in colour with a honeyed nose, and hints of pink grapefruit, hazelnuts and butter cake. On the palate the citrus fruit dominates, with a hint of ripe white peach, cinnamon spice and nutty complexity, balanced by fine, linear acidity. The finish is long and tangy, with just a touch of butter caramel rounding it out at the very end. A very complex and textural wine that takes time to open up and still has many years of aging ahead of it if you decide to cellar it. Right now, it is great with pan fried whiting or a lemon prawn risotto.
Not cheap at $60 a bottle, but, for a wine that’s seven years old, that’s less than $10 a year for all that lovely extra aging the Estate has put into this wine – worth the splurge? I think so!
© Kate McIntyre April 2011
Wine Diva Wines of the Month, May 2011
