(2020) Very discreet, apple, pear. Very taut, a sour apple and grapefruit juiciness, cool, direct, that apple and lemon citrus continues. I've been a huge fan of Tony's wines over the years, and though beautifully made, I confess I found this maybe a bit too restrained for its own good?
(2020) This wine spends nine months in 100% French oak, 29% new barrels. Nicely handled oak, just adding a little buttery note and some vanilla, a hit of toast, then super fresh and limpid fruit on the palate, lots of citrus against the inherent fruit sweetness, juicy, pear and apple, and a rounding almond and buttery note in the finish. Stockist and price for an earlier vintage at time of review.
(2019) Made with skin contact during six weeks of fermentation, this is dry, unfiltered and spends a further period of six months in old Fuder (Foudre) large barrels. Light cider notes, a touch of wheat beer yeastiness, the fresh lemon juicy palate refreshing, bone dry impression on the finsih and clean. 7g/l of residual sugar.
(2018) It's a full seven years since I last tasted this wine, when it was a relatively youthful three-year-old and scored 91/100. Now, with a decade under its belt, the blend of 38% Sauvignon Blanc, 35% Macabeu, 19% Vermentino and a handful of other varieties shows a slightly deeper colour and has a lightly sherried aspect on the nose, but still intense apricot and creamy, oatmeally character, the large, old oak barrels used for fermentation and ageing just adding to that. In the mouth a touch of bruised apple, but there is still real fruit sweetness there, allied to a citrus peel acidity and touch of phenolic grippiness, that gives structure and length. Drinking well, it is showing a little age, but hard to say where it will go from here.
(2018) Pouring much the same colour as the 2008, and with the same touch of age showing aromatically, this is a blend of 59% old-vine Macabeu and 18% Sauvignon Blanc, along with Grenache blanc, Chardonnay, Malvoisie and a touch of Vermentino. Mostly made in stainless steel, 28% saw time in new and old 500-litre barrels. Rich, golden in colour and aroma, leesy cream and baked apple, but a brightness to the fruit beneath a touch of oxidation, quite ethereal floral nuances flit in and out. Nice palate, again similar to the 2008, medium- to full-bodied, generous, but still with a core of excellent cirtus peel, fatter acidity.
(2018) Only the second ever release of Chapel Down's top single vineyard Chardonnay. It's harvested by hand, whole bunch pressed, and fermented with wild yeasts in French oak barrels where it spent nine months on the lees. It has lovely clarity, a sheen of almond and nougat over not too ripe orchard fruit, and is immediately elegant. In the mouth it has very good concentration, good ripeness, an enjoyable tension between sweet peachy fruit and a tangy, orange and lemon acidity. Medium-bodied and staying nicely balanced, it's a keen, lithe Chardonnay of great style, the finished just rounded out with subtle oak notes. Burgundian? That's certainly a fair ballpark in which to place this.
(2018) A really nice, crowd-friendly traditional method blend of the three main Champagne grapes, aged for a minimum of one year in Hush Heath's cellars. It's fruity and bright, pear and juicy red apple and seemingly quite sweet: certainly a higher dosage than some here, but with excellent citrus acidity and some nice creamy and lightly toasty character from the lees ageing.
(2017) Though Beaune may be more familiar as a red wine, the appellation covers white wines too, in this case a blend from different Premier Cru parcels matured for around 10 months in oak, about 15% new. Oatmeal and almond toastiness at first, a hint of spice and modest apple fruit. In the mouth very good ripeness, lots of pear and apple, a hint of something orangey to the acidity, then the infill of the spices and wheatmeal and oatmeally oak again. Enjoyable, though perhaps a touch abrupt.
(2017) Winemaker Mike Symons worked at Antinori in Italy for several years, so perhaps brings a different perspective to his wines. This 2011 shows a little more age and comes from "a very rainy vintage that required four pickings, the first three just to remove rotten bunches." Partial malolactic from these 1988 vineyards planted to Lyre trellising, that are generally more ripe. A nicely and lightly toffeed nose, the palate sherbetty and bright, still drinks nicely.
(2016) More pale gold than truly orange, Australian winemaker Martin Cooper is an admirer of Jura and natural wines, so has made this highly unusual Riesling with natural yeast, 30 days on skins and minimal sulphur. Its aromas are fresh and boldly appley, a hint of straw, a hint of nuttiness, but bright and expressive. In the mouth it is dry and again distinctive, with apple core and citrus pith dryness, but a fine sense of purity and of delicacy as the acidity extends the finish.