Xanadu Stevens Road Chardonnay 2020
- 97
- $80
- Drink by: 2022-2037
Share
Technical side first. The chardonnay from this small vineyard was handpicked and then whole bunch pressed to French oak barriques, of which 27% were new, for wild fermentation. The barrels were stirred regularly over nine months but consistent with Glenn Goodall’s approach the wines did not go through malolactic fermentation. This was one of the coolest and smallest Margaret River vintages. But it was also one of the best in terms of quality. There is tremendous power and palate intensity here with a chalky salted caramel-like palate lifted with a bright minerally acidity. Has a chalky mouth feel with a dry savoury finish. Outstanding wine.
Ray Jordan has been writing about wine for more than 40 years. His first articles were published in the early issues of national wine magazine Winestate in the late 1970s when he worked in Sydney as a newspaper correspondent. From 1989 Ray wrote more than 3000 columns as a regular newspaper wine columnist. He currently writes a regular column for the special business publication Business News and is one of the main contributors to national wine platform Wine Pilot. In 2017 Ray co-authored The Way it Was – A History of The Early Days of the Margaret River Wine Industry and previously wrote Wine in the Blood: Australia’s Family Wine Estates, published in Mandarin and English. In 2011 Ray was awarded WA Wine Press Club Jack Mann Memorial Medal for his contribution to the WA wine industry. His love of wine is as strong as his love of the blues and tasting the thousands of wines that cross his bench each year allows him to indulge in both.
