Kooyong Faultline Chardonnay 2019
- 93
- $60
- Drink by: 2022 - 2028
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Even from such a fine Chardonnay-producing region as Mornington Peninsula, these latest offerings from Kooyong are standouts. The Faultline Vineyard was planted over two decades ago and the grapes for this wine were sourced from a special 0.57 hectare block within it. The soil has more clay and less ironstone than the Farrago Vineyard. Again, these grapes were whole-bunch pressed directly into French oak barriques (16% new), whereupon fermentation took place with native yeasts. The wine then spent 11 months on lees with no bâtonnage. And again, there was no fining and minimal filtration.
With this chardonnay, Kooyong move into more stonefruit territory with underlying wet slate. It is less expressive but offers more concentration. This is a chardonnay which will undoubtedly benefit from more time in the cellar. The longer it spent in the glass, the more characters and flavours emerged. It offers lemon spongecake rather than lemon zest. This is a fine chardonnay with excellent balance and good acidity. An appealing creamy texture runs the length of the wine. And there is good length – perhaps fractionally short of the Farrago, but it is not a competition. This wine has punch and power.
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.
