Rational Wine

A Life Through The Lens Of Wine

  • Home
  • New? Start Here
  • About Me
  • Philosophy
  • Words To Live By
  • Archives
  • Gallery
  • The Essentials
  • Rational Wine Note
  • The 7 Key Wine Concepts (FREE BOOK)
  • Wine Consultations

Rational Wine Review #4 – Shadowfax Chardonnay 2012

By Mark Law 4 Comments

Shadowfax Chardonnay 2012

Download Notes

Download Now!

Chardonnay is interesting in that it grows well in many different environments and vintners can do many things with it to create various different styles of wine. Depending on the ripeness of the grapes they can choose to create a more fruit-forward style of wine, use oak to impart some structure, malolactic fermentation to develop flavour or lees stirring to enhance texture.

The Stats

Take Your Own Notes!

Appearance

  • Clarity: Clear
  • Intensity: Medium
  • Colour: Lemon with gold highlights

Nose

  • Condition: Clean
  • Intensity: Medium+
  • Development: Developing

Palate

  • Sweetness: Dry
  • Acidity: Medium+
  • Tannin: N/A
  • Alcohol: Medium
  • Body: Medium+
  • Flavor Intensity: Medium+
  • Finish: Medium

Conclusions

  • Quality: Very Good
  • Readiness/Cellaring: Can drink now, has potential for ageing
  • Identity: Australia / Geelong / Chardonnay
  • Price: Mid-priced (~$30)

Notes

  • Long, fast tears
  • ~$30
  • Aromas of oak, stonefruit, pencil shavings, nectarine
  • Flavours of lemon curd, oak, lemon pithe, unripe peach, nectarine
  • Slightly oily texture, balanced with acid
  • Try with wood-fired pizza (?)

Elaboration

This is one of those wines that has used everything in its arsenal to create a more harmonious wine experience. The oak was evident through the spiced aromas, but was balanced with the fruit of the wine. On the palate it was almost oily in texture, but not cloying or flabby thanks to the cleansing acid. Refreshing and zesty when chilled, it became progressively more luscious and juicy as it warmed in the glass.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that Chardonnay is not my most preferred varietal – early on in my wine education I encountered a bad run of some extremely oaked and imbalanced representations. Only now am I beginning to overcome that trauma by discovering these more modern examples.

Which brings me to my next point – as a professional and an aficionado one must be able to judge a wine objectively and without bias. Though I may not be enamoured with this varietal, after a thorough tasting and detailed observation I can only conclude that this is a very well made Chardonnay. As you can see in my notes, I have marked the quality of this wine as “Very Good”, whereas I may have been less generous if I allowed my prejudices to take over.

There will be times where you may come across someone who insists on rejecting certain varietals, shutting out any possibilities of new experiences and further enlightenment. Do not be that person. By all means feel free to try and persuade them to change their point of view, but be prepared to retreat gracefully.

Related Posts

  • Australia in 1,000 Words Or LessAustralia in 1,000 Words Or Less
  • Review #42 – Mitchelton Airstrip Marsanne Rousanne Viognier 2012Review #42 – Mitchelton Airstrip Marsanne Rousanne Viognier 2012
  • Review #35 – Wine Society Directors’ Selection Pinot Noir 2012Review #35 – Wine Society Directors’ Selection Pinot Noir 2012
  • Review #34 – Tamburlaine Members Reserve Chardonnay 2007Review #34 – Tamburlaine Members Reserve Chardonnay 2007

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
  • Reddit
  • More
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Telegram
  • Pinterest
  • Skype
  • Print

Related

January 14, 2014 Filed Under: Wine Reviews

Subscribe via Email

Subscribe to Rational Wine and receive weekly reviews, articles, opinions and more!

Get My FREE Book

3D_7KWC_Reduced

Buy A Consultation

ConsultWineTemplate

Follow Rational Wine

  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Topics

  • Blog Announcements (21)
  • Day In The Life (35)
  • Impromptu Pairings (1)
  • The Essentials (8)
  • Thinking Sober (53)
  • Uncategorized (3)
  • Wine Experiments (5)
  • Wine Regions (9)
  • Wine Reviews (55)

Buy A Consultation

ConsultWineTemplate

Recent Posts

  • My experience of the Advanced Wine Assessment Course
  • Reflections on 2020
  • 2012 Campo Viejo Rioja Gran Reserva (or, How To Read A Wine Label)
  • New Video: Wine Vintages
  • New Video: Red Wine Grapes

Recent Comments

  • My experience of the Advanced Wine Assessment Course on Advanced Sommelier Exam – Second Attempt
  • Reflections on 2020 on Advanced Sommelier Exam – Second Attempt
  • Reflections on 2020 on Reflections on 2019
  • Reflections on 2020 on Will Sommeliers Go Out Of Fashion?
  • Reflections on 2020 on Hello, My Name Is Mark Law DipWSET

Copyright Rational Wine © 2013–2023 · Rational Wine · Consult Wine · The 7 Key Wine Concepts · Contact

 

Loading Comments...