The verdict

Although the 2017 vintage was less impressive than 2016 and 2015, this tasting delivered some exceptional quality Chardonnays with regional personality. Anthony Rose reports

Only 14 of the wines in our tasting of 60 Western Australian Chardonnays were from outside Margaret River: three from Great Southern as well as three from its sub-region of Frankland River and another from the Mount Barker sub-region; one from Geographe; one from Pemberton; and five from the generic appellation of Western Australia. It wasn’t just that Margaret River dominated the tasting numerically but, more significantly, it took the top 13 spots, with only Hay Shed Hill from Geographe and Harewood Estate from Great Southern sneaking into the top 20.

This predominance of quality Chardonnay in Margaret River is hardly an eyebrow-raiser. Ever since Leeuwin Estate pioneered the style, closely followed by the likes of Vasse Felix, Cullen, Moss Wood and Cape Mentelle, Margaret River has emerged as one of Australia’s prime regions for quality Chardonnay, thanks to its unique combination of maritimeMediterranean climate and the commitment of a growing band of small producers to making worldclass Chardonnay.

In some ways, this was an unusual tasting, being a ‘game of two halves’, to use a footballing analogy. The 2017 vintage constituted just over half of the wines tasted, but we were not greatly enamoured with these younger wines and wondered why they didn’t meet our admittedly high expectations. A majority at the lower price points were characterised by a lack of fruit depth and texture, having a linear quality – or even a meanness – that made them one-dimensional. Sarah Ahmed called them ‘citrus zingers’. Most of these hovered around the 13% abv mark, or lower, suggesting perhaps early-picked fruit or highish yields. To be fair, there were exceptions – notably the excellent Deep Woods Estate, Gralyn Estate, Willow Bridge Estate and Miles from Nowhere in the top 20, plus four more Highly Recommended wines: LAS Vino, Brookland Valley, Fraser Gallup, Houghton and Marchand & Burch.

As we broached the 2016s and 2015s, we sunk our collective teeth into a bunch of excellent wines that really did meet – and on occasion exceed – expectations. Those in the top flight of Exceptional and Outstanding were everything we hoped for from Margaret River: beautifully crafted, powerfully expressive Chardonnays with complexity, fruit concentration, length, balance and ageworthiness. There was even a certain ‘funkiness’ on occasion; an individuality that spoke of an understanding of the viticulture, of first-rate winemaking and the distinctiveness of the region.

To an extent, we felt that some of the character of these world-class Chardonnays derived from the particular freshness, expression and concentration of the Gin Gin clone, also known as the Mendoza clone.

It came as little surprise to see Deep Woods, Cullen, McHenry Hohnen, Pierro, Leeuwin Estate and Vasse Felix’s Heytesbury in the top flight, and it was good to see them joined by less well-known names such as Gralyn, Driftwood, Flowstone and Hamelin Bay, with a good performance outside Margaret River from Willow Bridge. While the focus has to date been largely on winemaking, growers are now taking on board differences of soil type and growing methods that take account of local climatic factors to deliver complexity, flavour and structure.

‘Margaret River dominated the tasting numerically, and took the top 13 spots’