2015 Yattarna

Brilliant, straw-yellow. A heady, sharply detailed bouquet evokes fresh honeydew melon, Meyer lemon, pear nectar and toasted brioche, with iodine and smoky mineral qualities emerging as the wine opens up. Juicy and expansive on the palate, offering densely packed yet nervy orchard and citrus fruit and buttered toast flavors and a subtle touch of poached pear. Shows noteworthy energy and mineral cut on the penetrating finish, which features a suave floral quality and a hint of oyster shell.

The 2015 Chardonnay Yattarna has a lot of puppy fat on the nose at this youthful stage, showing exuberant notes of baked peaches, apple pie, guava and pineapple paste over yeasty/savory notions and a waft of crushed stones. The palate is typically tightly wound, revealing great tension and minerality, yet it also has a lot of fruit and and a lovely silken texture, finishing long and invigorating. Forget it for two to three years and drink it over the next 10+.

100% Chardonnay. Launched in 1998 with the 1995 vintage. Its name comes from the Aboriginal language, meaning ‘little by little, gradually’. Each vintage provides the opportunity to further raise the quality bar and the 2014 celebrates Yattarna’s 20th vintage release. Autumn and winter rainfall were above the long-term averages in the Adelaide Hills. Rain stopped abruptly in early August with nothing more than light and infrequent showers observed throughout spring. In Tasmania, moderate spring rainfall and settled conditions led to good average yields across the region, with only isolated incidences of frost. A significant rainfall event in the Adelaide Hills in early January revitalised vineyards and gave vines a much-needed boost throughout veraison. Mild days coupled with cool nights in Tasmania and the Adelaide Hills provided consistent conditions, resulting in high acid retention with even and steady sugar accumulation over the ripening phase. Harvest across most vineyards in the Adelaide Hills was compressed with the majority of the vineyards picked by the end of March. Acidity 8.1 g/l, pH 3.17. Eight months in French oak barriques (65% new). Molten, really quite buttery nose. Then salty. And dense with a dry end. Ambitious and reserved. Stone fruit. Far from flamboyant. But very vibrant finish. Really resonates on the end. Appetising and accessible already. Very clean and fresh. (JR)