CHURCH ROAD MCDONALD SERIES CHARDONNAY HAWKES BAY 2011
First impressions are important in tasting wine. The initial sniff and spit, crude though it may seem when set out in print, is a vital window of recognition. The other important first impression is colour. Chardonnay should be pale golden or bright straw coloured. The aroma of the wine should be fresh and appealing. Off odours such as sourness and the smells caused by an unstable fermentation are signs of an unsound wine that will not keep well. A huge part of learning how to make wine is devoted to recognizing the off odours of instability. The other side of the coin is the pure joy of tasting a fine, fresh young wine. This Hawkes Bay Chardonnay is such a wine.
Hawkes Bay Chardonnay is always worth looking at. Obviously some are better than others. The best can be sublime. This wine is tautly structured. It has good tone, and the acid that gives it backbone is friable, meaning it does not assail the senses but insinuates itself as part of a complex citrusy flavour that registers on the palate as a creamy sensation, which fills the back of the mouth and is tart as well as unctuous, lingering on after the wine has been swallowed.
Wine Note by Tim Harris
Telephone 021 477 171
11/145 Howe Street
Freemans Bay
Auckland 1011
9 August 2012
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