Over 50% of the fruit in this 2013 Chardonnay Yattarna comes from Tasmania, Australia’s relatively recent hotbed of cool climate fruit. Aged in 62% new oak and employing 100% malo-lactic, the nose is closed, revealing subtle chalk dust and steel notes over a core of toast and grapefruit peel plus a touch of lemon zest. Tightly-knit and austere, the light-bodied palate is remarkably creamy and it finishes long and minerally.
A classic wine with some shrouded aromatics for now, the reduction has not quite played out on the nose so you'll need to decant this to lift the wine out of submission or wait a couple of years. Waxy dried yellow flowers, straw and stony aromas, mineral-flecked crushed rocks, sweet and biscuity, some almond-scented oak and a core of poached nectarine fruit and lime juice. The palate has attractive smooth-wrapped fruit texture and a tight-coiled core of nectarine and grapefruit, chalky texture here, smooth-groomed phenolics to close. Needs a year or two.
I’m a big fan of Yattarna, though I hope it doesn’t get any slimmer than the 2013 Yattarna is: a discreet, enigmatic Corton-Charlemagne style of aroma, then a ballet of green fruit on the palate. More time is definitely needed for this fine Tasmanian Chardonnay (plus 10 per cent Adelaide Hills).
