Roxburgh Chardonnay		1991	Rosemount Estate (Australia)

5/95. Bought three months ago in Israel for the exorbitant price of $42.
Tonight Friday night dinner for two at home.
Thinly sliced salmon carpaccio in balsamic oil and fresh shrimps in lemon sauce, garnished with parsley and halved cherry-tomatoes.
Sauteed fillet of bacala with oven-baked potatoes, sour-cream and dill.
Fresh melon in madeira wine.
COLOR: Beautiful deep golden color.
NOSE: Quite complex. Unmistakable but subdued fruit, oily (petrol?) character, pronounced but not overwhelming wood (not the smoky kind), some musky overtones (Dorit says "rotten!").
TASTE: Also complex. Changed during dinner. Unpleasant bitter notes with the salmon in balsamic, getting much better with the main course. Three discernible different phases on the palate. Pleasant attack, OK mid-taste (Dorit says "Yicks!"), excellent finish. Though hard to tell components, the taste seem to follow the nose. Some peculiar effects on the palate. I liked them, Dorit much less. For better or worse - not your (or mine) everyday Chardonnay.
LENGTH: Very long developing aftertaste. Almost as if a very good white (B).
TEXTURE & BALANCE: A very 'fat' and chewy wine. Quite a head-setter at 14% alcohol, high acidity, and some tannins that will give this 4-years old blockbuster some more years.
OVERALL: A very special white wine. Rich and complex in all respects. Much better (though less easy) than the Cal Chards I tasted, certainly better than the insipid Israeli chards, though not as good as (B). Dorit found it less appealing than me, both on the nose and in taste. At the price it is no-brainer as you say. If I can get 1992 Drouhin's 'Clos de Mouches' white for $35 net or Jadot's 'Puligny - Folatieres' for $32, I don't think I'll buy more. But I understand it costs about $26 in the U.S. For that price I would buy a few.
MARK: 16/20. (Dorit 14/20).aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? No.

Reach Me? yak@yakshaya.com

Copyright 1996-2003.
Jacob "Yak" Shaya.