Robert Mondavi Private Selection Bourbon Barrel Chardonnay 2019
- 91
- $25
- Drink by: 2021 - 2025
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There was a time in Australia when many thought that the flavour of oak was what chardonnay tasted like. Pendulums swing and this one has long deemed big and buttery Chardies as persona non grata, or the wine equivalent. That said, there are still many consumers who love the style. Most keep it as their own dirty little secret, but there is no way they’d swap their flavour bombs for those wishy, washy ‘elegant’, dilute offerings.
And flavour bomb this is. From coastal Californian vineyards and aged in Bourbon whisky barrels (from a “renowned” Kentucky distillery), this is bronze gold in colour. There is oak, as you’d expect. A soft style with stonefruit notes. Orange rinds. Good concentration and weight on the palate. This is a heavier style of chardonnay than many might be used to but very much worth exploring. Drinking now and for three to four 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.
