Harewood Estate Flux III Chardonnay 2023
- 92
- $40
- Drink by: 2024-2031
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Chardonnay from the Denmark region in Western Australia is finally emerging from the enormous shadow cast by Margaret River. If you want evidence, this is a fine example. Free run juice is fermented in French oak and malolactic fermentation has softened the texture. There is quality fruit in abundance here, with quality oak well into the process of integration. There are notes of oak with vanillin and cashew hints, with figs, stonefruits and spices. Balance and drive, there is a supple texture here. A refreshing style with early complexity, the wine should drink well for the next four to seven years.
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.
