Crittenden Zumma Chardonnay 2022

80% malolactic fermentation in 60% new oak for 11 months. Butter toast, tinned peach and cut pineapple slices. Baked anzac cookies and toast muesli. A feast of morning pastries. Fruit is front and centre with a swathe of toasty oak spice. Vanilla biscotti, nutmeg and cinnamon sugar. A lovely lemon cheesecake creaminess, with fresh acidity carrying the final tune. This has the intensity we see from further west with the marine sea spray and citrus core of Victoria. A really good representation of what Mornington can do. The balance of modern day Australian Chardonnay is printed all over this. Drink now and will cellar another 3 years. Serve with battered fish and chicken salt chips still in the paper.

Shanteh Wale

Contributor at Wine Companion

Shanteh cut her teeth at Sydney’s Award-Winning Quay restaurant where she worked for over a decade and was Head Sommelier from 2018 till 2022. She has been nominated for the Good Food Guide Sommelier of the Year award on three occasions and claims that her experience as a Len Evans scholar as one of the highlights of her career. Shanteh hosts her own weekly podcast ‘Over A Glass’ with the Deep in the Weeds Network and spends her time writing for various publications and judging at numerous wine shows across the country.

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