d’Arenberg The Olive Grove Chardonnay 2021
- 90
- $19
- Drink by: 2022-2024
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It has been said before – McLaren Vale is rarely the first place one thinks of when looking for top-notch Chardonnay. That does not mean that you won’t find some gems. After all, think Hunter Valley. Same deal. d’Arenberg’s Olive Grove is usually 100% McLaren Vale, but in the stellar 2021 vintage, it includes some Adelaide Hills material. It works. The name comes from the region’s history as the McLaren Vale region has enjoyed the presence of olive trees for almost two hundred years.
The colour is a shining gold. The aroma moves from melons to nuts, the barest touch of ginger and there is just a hint of oak, while stonefruit notes weave their way throughout. Good acidity and nicely balanced, with decent length, this is an attractive style, destined for drinking over the next 12 months, when it will provide much pleasure, though it will linger longer. Cracking value.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
