Wirra Wirra The 12th Man Chardonnay (Adelaide Hills, SA)
12.5%, Screwcap, $31.50
Source: Sample
www.wirrawirra.com

A tiny production for this very tough vintage. The Wirra Wirra crew literally hand
selected everything that went into this, dropping lots of fruit in the
process. Who said growing grapes and making wines was easy?

Super fine, coiled nose here, with white peach and very fine, unsalted cashew
oak, topped off with a little aftershave sweatiness. It’s all very lean, but still has varietal character. That clever, Saos-with-whipped-butter oak melds through the palate too, lifting up what is a very raw and angular thing into something more palatable. It’s still a somewhat aneamic wine, as befitting the year, but the style is exceptional.

The Wirra boys worked hard with this wine, using all their nous to craft a well crafted wine out of plain unyielding fruit. 16.8/89