Silver Heights Reserve Ningxia Chardonnay 2021
- 94
- $89
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The word ‘reserve’ tends to make me nervous as it can sometimes (often) translate to ‘blanketed in oak’. Not the case here, I’m happy to say. This sees 100% new French oak for 8 months before bottling, but it’s integrated nicely. Melon, red grapefruit and toasted brioche lead the charge aromatically, with the latter quick to take a backseat. Some air unlocks subtle baking spice complexity in the form of cinnamon and nutmeg that pair nicely with nashi pear, papaya and star fruit, followed by sweet pops of marzipan. There’s a lovely fruit and spice mix here, with freshness a defining feature working to foil the wine’s power. There’s a good burst of intensity through the palate – pear, melon, butter on toast, cedar and salted grapefruit glide through the mouth with volume and definition, plus marzipan in the background. There’s a lactic feel to the texture that wraps around it all, before a cut of pithy phenolics works with grapefruit acid to clean it up. Good length, solid intensity, 12.5% alcohol. It’s rich but well controlled and balanced. A smart wine.
Tom Kline is a wine writer, reviewer, presenter, and educator based in Victoria, Australia. He is the Australian correspondent for the internationally respected publications Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy and Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux, where he highlights the top tier of Australian wine for a global audience. Tom also writes for leading outlets including Decanter (UK), Wine Spectator (US), and Halliday Magazine, among others. An experienced wine show judge and WSET educator, he has authored several consumer-focused wine courses aimed at making wine more accessible and engaging. In 2023, Tom was awarded Best Published Feature Article or Wine Column at the prestigious Wine Communicator Awards, presented by Wine Communicators of Australia.
