2011 Yattarna

I was taken aback by the youthfulness of this precise, smoky wine that tucked pure, long, citrus lines into its hazelnut-savoury, roasted-honeyed-oats frame. Cut-glass acidity that seems to fragment the light and emphasise the compact yet fine depth of the fruit. I would love to have tasted this wine in a situation where I could be a bit more focused on it – there was a very distracting presentation going on and nowhere to write tasting notes. But it struck me that it wasn't unlike a grand cru Montrachet. (TC)

Much more vegetal notes and cooked fruit than the 2018. Broad, fleshy palate with grip and texture. Lingering mealy note – loads of persistence here, with a long smoky finish right at the end. (RH)

Launched in 1998 with the 1995 vintage, Yattarna is intended to be a white wine that stands alongside the standard of Grange. An evolving style but focused on cool-climate fruit, though the source may change from year to year because the aim is for a 'house style'. 2011 was good on Tasmania, where most of the fruit originates, more challenging in the Adelaide Hills.  TA 6.7 g/l, pH 3.15. Fermented and aged in 100% French oak barriques (64% new – though this is always vintage dependent). We have  'Come a long way with oak selection', says Gago. Gently mealy oak aroma but subtle. There's a hint of orange pith and grapefruit and even ginger – lovely refined complexity. Lightly spiced, slightly toasty/smoky but not especially reductive. Hint of hazlenuts. Beautifully shaped and dense but still has that cool-climate freshness. Very crisp acidity and pure piercing citrus on the plate. Very long.  Very citrusy on the mid palate, leaner and more refined than Bin A Chardonnay. (JH)