Grosset 2009 Picadilly Chardonnay

We're not too big on the actual Christmas here in the Little House of Concrete, since being non-believers takes out the Christmas observances and a lack of kids in the vicinity tends to remove Santa Claus from the equstion, but the prospect of an effective two- to four-day long weekend means we tend to stock up, cook up big on the actual day and sup off leftovers until the supermarkets and butchers are open again.

And drink well; Under the circumstances you might as well, at least from where I'm sitting, drink well.

This year's Chrissie lunch was centred around what we could put through the LHoC oven while the air conditioner purred away im the background.

Moreton bay bugs with a bechamel sauce, my favourite roast chicken and a heaping helping of risotto was washed down with a bottle of bubbles I'm not inclined to review because we're not that big on bubbles, and, in any case, it paled beside the sheer magnificence of

Grosset 2009 Picadilly Chardonnay (5* $46)  Clear, almost shimmering pale straw in the glass that drew the briefest of inspections as the vessel made its way to the nose. From the first whiff it was obvious we were in for something special. There's an incisiveness on the nose and across the palate that's simultaneously luscious and austere, with competing elements perfectly balanced. Give it time to open up and there's a buttery richness that wasn't immediately obvious among the citrus and peach notes in the first waves through the nose and across the palate. Textured, focussed, perfectly integrated and a joy to drink. Between this, the SBS, the Springvale and the Polish Hill there's a bit too much to fit into a single box. Looks like we'l be up for the Off-Dry Riesling, Pinot Noir and Gaia next time around...

Pfeiffer 2011 Carlyle Chardonnay Marsanne

It's interesting how rapidly some experiments become part of the mainstream. Take, for instance, Jen Pfeiffer's decision to blend a bit of Marsanne into a batch of unwooded Chardonnay that seemed to be missing something on the way to a clean, fresh, fruit driven wine.

That was in 2008, and there's been a repeat of the blend in each of the subsequent years, because (as I remarked at the time) it works rather well. Clean pale colour, aromatic nose (and you can definitely pick the Marsanne) and a refreshing wine that's easy drinking.

On that basis I'd reordered the '08 and while the '09 was quite acceptable, I thought it didn't work quite as well, and I suspected  that while the '08 was an attempt to tackle a problem, the successor was a case of matching the formula that worked last time rather than approaching a particular issue with a particular batch from a particular vintage. It was still a reasonably attractive unoaked white but it didn't make me sit up and take notice the same way the '08 did.

It seems the 2010 sneaked past through the mid-year C3 pack that I opted not to sign up for (it doesn't seem to have been included in the C2 selections that landed here, and there's nothing in the fairly extensive electronic documentation hereabouts to suggest it was,)so I'd guess that it walked out the door fairly rapidly (otherwise I'd have guessed it would have turned up in the October 2010 box).

And the 2011 suggests that may well have been the case, because both bottles of this crisp, fresh, unwooded style disappeared with extreme rapidity.

Pfeiffer 2011 Carlyle Chardonnay Marsanne (4* $16.50) The Marsanne comes pushing its way through the nose with definite elements of honeysuckle alongside melons and peaches. Pleasantly aromatic, and that impression follows through across the palate with citrusy young Chardonnay characters to produce a refreshing style for summer drinking. Summer in these parts tends to be the time for Rose and Riesling, but there may well be three or four of these lining up in the box with Mr Gamay.

Hay Shed Hill 2010 Block 6 Chardonnay

 Ah, the joys of a changing palate…

Or, more accurately, developing styles and changes in public perceptions. It's not that long since the drinking public seemed to be pouring vast quantities of Anything But Chardonnay down their collective throats, a shift in consumption that had winemakers scrabbling around for a way back once the big buttery styles I used to like went off the boil out there in Consumerland.

And in the wake of the Kiwi Savalanche, you'd be wondering how anything else was going to get a look in, but here's a perfect example of what's out there for the Savvied-out drinker, assuming you're not getting a bit of Semillon in with the Savvy or haven't rediscovered the joys of Riesling.

Hay Shed Hill 2010 Block 6 Chardonnay (4.5* $35) Early picked fruit from thirty-five-year-old dry-grown vines, free run juice, a total lack of malolactic fermentation (so not even a daub of butter in sight)  and minimal exposure to oak delivers fresh apple, citrus  and stone fruit aromas to the nose, concentrated flavours across the palate in an elegant understated style that's simultaneously vibrant and intensely fruity. Very easy to drink now, and could develop over the short to medium term, but the stocks wi;l, I suspect, be gone by autumn.

Cullen 2010 Margaret River White

Well, here's another string to add to the Summer Drinking bow…

We're already looking at a regular mix of light reds and Rose, Riesling and the odd Semillon Sauvigon Blanc or SBS, drawn from Brook Eden, Rockford, Pfeiffer and Pikes, with maybe a bottle or two of the Brook Eden Pinot Gris ond Rockford White Frontignac thrown in for a bit of variation.

There'll be a six pack of the Hay Shed Hill Block 1 SSB thrown in for something towards the premium end of the spectrum and, of course, there's plenty of other wine sitting in the rack that will need to be removed to make room for incoming summer supplies.

Based on a slight degree of disappointment with the Margaret River Red I hung off this one for a bit, but a retry of the red had me sneaking the previoous rating a bit higher, bunping the 3.5 I could buy this up towards a 4* I should buy this. I'm still not !00% there, but if I'm going to line up for more of the White, and given the fact that I don't quite need a dozen of these, I'll probably be in for a couple more of the reds.

Time to whack a bottle of the Red in the fridge to see how it handles that option, and I'd better get a Mangan Vineyard Semillon in there as well.

Cullen 2010 Margaret River White (4.5/5 $19) A variation on the traditional Bordeaux blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon with a splash of Chenin Blanc, a dash of Chardonnay and a touch of Riesling, it's still basically a Margaret River SBS with added complexity from the additional elements. Those extra dimensions come across on the nose, with enough elements in there to keep you sniffing for a while as you have a go at identifying them. They deliver across the palate as well, with a rounded elegance coiled around a core of soft-edged acid. An interesting blend for the short term with depth on the palate that's remarkable in a wine that registers 12.5% alc/vol. I may well be looking for more of this one.

Brook Eden 2010 Chardonnay

With a little over a month to go before the current newsletter's 10% off or freight free offer (I'll be taking the freight free if and when the order goes in) expires at the end of September it was well and truly time to go looking at the contents of the most recent Brook Eden Vintage Club tasting pack.

I've remarked elsewhere on some of the different approaches to this regular tasting pack concept, like the Hay Shed Hill Four seasons (Chardonnay in the spring, SSB for Summer, Sangiovese and Tempranillo for Autumn and Cabernet Sauvignon in the depths of Winter) and the Pfeiffer three mixed dozens that seem to stretch beyond the regular range and therefore need to be topped up with museum releases.

The Brook Eden version comes in the form of two half-dozens, with wooded styles turning up on the doorstep in the middle of the year and the unwooded styles lobbing in time for the Silly Season, which then translates to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in winter and Pinot Gris, Pinor Rose and Riesling in summer.

We're talking a small operation, so presumably the Vintage Club takes a substantial chunk out of each year's production. As a result I guess it's a question of how you pitch your selection in the guaranteed sales department with a view to maximising the sales further down the line.

With the winter packs, three bottles of Pinot Noir and three bottles of Chardonnay from the current release would probably take a fair chunk out of stocks on hand, but there's also the chance to generate a buzz for the next release by slipping the wines into the Vintage Club pack, which is presumably the thinking behind slipping the 2010 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir into the box when the accompanying price list offers the '09 Chardonnay and '08 Pinot.

This time around there are two bottles of the two '10s, along with an '08 Pinot and an '09 Chardonnay for comparative purposes, an indication of how the babies are likely to develop, and a reminder that the comparisons are still available through the cellar door. Clever.

In any case, issues relating to getting the cases off the office floor by making spaces in the wine rack meant that recently I've been running down the stocks of short term drinking styles, but the need to figure out what we're doing about the Brook Eden matter had me turning to the '10 Chardonnay last night.

It'll be a while before it'll be available for general sale, and while I could hold onto the other bottle till somewhere a bit closer to the actual release as a reminder of a wine that impressed in its infancy, presumably it'll turn up again in the middle of next year for comparative purposes with the 2012.

Brook Eden 2010 Chardonnay (4.5* $? presumably somewhere between $32 and $27) Straw coloured, tightly wound perfumed nose that offered the promise of interesting things to come and opened up quite a lot over time, as did (surprise, surprise) the palate. Soft across the taste buds with peaches and a hint of cream that'll presumably come through increasingly as the wine develops in the bottle. Elegant style with plenty of interest that'll be worth investigating, say, in about three months and again when the Winter 2012 Vintage Club pack arrives on the doorstep. Given the fact that it's not on sale to the public yet, and presumably won't be for a while it's not one for the summer drinking order, but further down the track...

Pfeiffer 2009 Chardonnay

It takes a while to work through these things, but we've got to the point where there was just this one and a 2010 Viognier left out of the Autumn Pfeiffer C2 Club offering. Either would've gone with tonight's roast chicken, but I thought that the Chardonnay might be a better match for last night's Rangoon Lime Chicken, so that was the way it went.

If I wasn't looking at boxes on the floor where boxes oughtn't be, I might have been tempted by the Winter Pack they're offering in the C3 option:

2009 Pfeiffer Marsanne
2010 Pfeiffer Winemakers Selection Malbec (2 bottles)
2005 Pfeiffer Christopher's VP
2006 Pfeiffer Chardonnay Museum Release
2009 Pfeiffer Carlyle Shiraz (2 bottles) Museum Release
2008 Pfeiffer Merlot Museum Release
2006 Pfeiffer Cabernet Sauvignon Museum Release
2008 Pfeiffer Shiraz Museum Release
1992 Pfeiffer Shiraz Cabernet Museum Release
1992 Pfeiffer Christopher's VP Museum Release

But, as stated, there's a slight surfeit in the LHoC at the moment, and I'm looking seriously at an order from Cullens in the near future, so something's got to give. The order needed to go in by Bastille Day, so....

Pfeiffer 2009 Chardonnay (4* $18.50 C2 $16.65) Straw green, nose noticeably subdued at first (note to self: don't taste straight out of the fridge) but across the palate worked rather nicely in the lighter tightly wound New Oz style and had me tossing up between ratings, but eventually rounded down rather than up. Already gone from the website (they're currently offering the '10) and given imminent orders I doubt I'll be looking in that direction in the near future.

Bloodwood 2009 Chardonnay

Here's one I've tried a number of times in environments that aren't condusive to producing a tasting note.

After sampling it in the winery, over Chinese in Canberra, with an Idian takeaway in Springfield Lakes and at the Bloodwood dinner at the QB, but when Warbo and the Dragon Lady landed on the doorstep bearing a bottle of Piggs Peake Wiggly Tail Marsanne, which made 2/2 wines favourably comparable to the Tahbilk take on the variety in twenty-four hours. With a price tag in the mid-twenties, however, I'm inclined to repeat the value for money Tahbilk factor as stated here.

I needed something to follow that one, and given the fact that our visitors had missed the Bloodwood dinner...

Bloodwood 2009 Chardonnay (4.5* $27) Clear pale yellow in the glass (Warbo: "Very light for a Chardonnay"), citrus notes on the nose and peaches and grapefruit across the palate and definite varietal character this is an impressive new style Oz Chard that'll be on the reorder list on a semi-permanent basis.

Regulation disclaimer: Given the fact that Steve and Rhonda Doyle are personal acquaintances rediscovered after an almost forty year gap, the reader might think I'm exceeding the bounds of something or other.

On the other hand, Halliday rates them a five star operation, rated this as a 92 and having tried the wine in a number of situations with a variety of people whose tastes probably do not coincide without hearing a negative comment I rest my case.

Lenton Brae 2009 Southside Chardonnay

While February hasn't been a great month for sampling wines I haven't tried before (we'd stocked up on Riesling, Rose and other summer drinking styles and the contents of the wine rack needed to be run down before orders go in to Rockford, Cullen and Pikes between now and Easter.

An email from Lenton Brae earlier in the month complicated matters slightly, offering the No Way Rose for $150/dozen and this one at one-third off the RRP freight free!

Another reason to be grateful we added our details to the mailing list when we were there.

Lenton Brae 2009 Southside Chardonnay (4.5* $25) As opposed to the significantly more expensive Wilyabrup Estate Chardonnay this drink in the medium term style comes from early picked fruit, some malolactic fermentation to tone down the acid and with no obvious oak on the palate the result is an easy drinking style that has a creamy citrus textured tang that's refreshing with a lengthy finish. Ticks all the right boxes as far as new style early drinking Chardonnay is concerned.

Pfeiffer 2008 Chardonnay (Relocated)

A visit to the cellar door at Pfeiffer Wines at the end of 2006 left us extremely impressed, and apart from signing up for the C2 Wine Club (two shipments a year, a dozen at a time) there have been regular reorders of the Gamay and Ensemble Rose. Apart from the fortifieds, which are very much in the mould you'd expect a regional trademark to be, the rest of the range is generally more than acceptable and the C2 parcels usually throw up a few other order possibilities. 

Pfeiffer 2008 Chardonnay (4* $17) Pale straw in the glass, some varietal character on the nose and across the palate, and a touch of oak as well. Workman-like style that's pleasant enough drinking but wouldn't have prompted a reorder, and, in any case, the winery's sold out of this vintage. Maybe there are others out there who liked this more than I did.