I admit it, I am a massive fan of Chardonnay.
The quality of these wines coming out of Australia is just incredible. In fact, I would say this is the best varietal in Australia right now. Forget about Shiraz and Cabernet. Chardonnay is where it’s at!
I have talked about Chardonnay before and it is all about cool climate elegance and fruit, rather than the oak. We all remember from a few decades back those big oaky “Chardy’s”. Well maybe we don’t! A lot of drinkers have been raised on a steady diet of Sauvignon Blanc. (I really do feel sorry for you)
But you need to add Chardonnay to your list.
Pinot Noir on the other hand is super trendy at the moment and seems to be on everyone lips. I have never really understood the quality value ratio for these wines. They are just so damn expensive
I get the whole supply and demand thing, it is just I feel there are better value wines elsewhere
However, I have started to investigate a few wines, but it is scaring me a little. Not sure I can afford this experimentation into Pinot
This all leads me to the wines of Tolpuddle.
2013 Tolpuddle Chardonnay Coal River Tasmania
2013 Tolpuddle Pinot Noir Coal River Tasmania
I have been reading about these wines for a year or so now. But it is only in the past week that I have been able to get my hands on some.
I am even sending these wines out in our Bullion Drop
Normally I don’t sell these types of wines. Why? Because I just don’t get enough stock and I want to drink them myself. A bit selfish I know, but I have based Bullion Cellars around the belief you don’t need to spend over $50 to get something really good. Great value however is a relative thing. At just over $60 a bottle these wines offer insane value for the quality and pedigree of the winemakers and vineyard.
Tolpuddle is probably the trendiest winery in Australia right now with Sommeliers and wine writers falling over themselves to extol their glory
Then there are the awards – The 2013 Pinot was just awarded the trophy for the best red wine at the London International Wine Challenge and is in the hunt to be awarded the International Red Wine of the year. Not bad for a 2 year old winery
But there is so much more going on behind this story
The boys from Shaw and Smith in the Adelaide Hills, no strangers to top quality wines, went on a tour of Tasmania a few years back and ended up purchasing one of the top vineyards in the state – as you do!
They were able to keep all the key vineyard personnel together and this 20 year old Coal River vineyard is in the zone right now. They commented it was good to see a vineyard planted by “grown ups”, with a keen eye on the varietals chosen, matched with the site and location etc. 20 hectares of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is all they have and that is quite enough.
2013 is the second vintage of their wines and to say they are impressive is an understatement
These wines are all about cool climate elegance – and beauty. They will not blow you away with power and fruit intensity, being quite low in alcohol, but they make up for this in sheer quality.
These wines are a look into the future of the Australian Wine industry. As our climate gets warmer and our cost of production gets higher, we are going to find it very hard to compete in the everyday drinking category. South America is just so much cheaper for similar quality. So small volume, high quality wines, from cool climate, single vineyards sites are where Australia can excel. Sure not everyone is going to want to spend this much money on a bottle of wine, but it is great to know they are out there
Are these wines as good as they claim to be, well that can only be judged by you, but it is fun to taste something from Australia that is striving for greatness from a unique and single site. I generally only find this level of commitment and excitement coming from Spain at the moment.
Gotta love Australia –