Cloudy Bay Marlborough Chardonnay 2012

I’m deep into a cold this week, which means that I can’t smell or taste much at all – I missed a vertical of Te Mata Coleraine just this morning, to rub it in. Even the hardcore Codral – the sort kept under the counter) isn’t helping.

Balls.

This Chardonnay, though, I drank on the weekend, before things got bad. It’s on the list at the Sydney Open Air Cinema and it’s now a go-to drink every visit.

The key to the appeal here is it’s old school Marlborough Chardonnay richness, with caramel, biscuit oak and ripe peach fruit very much a part of the design, backed by grapefruit acidity.

The only distractions here is the warmth and slight flab through the middle, which makes it just a little heavy after a while, Still, this feels like the best of last generation Oz Chard – properly ripe fruit, given top shelf oak and built for mouthfeel, yet with acid cut.

Enjoyable drink.

Details: 13.5%, Screwcap, $48
Tasted: February ’15
Best drinking: 2015-2019
Score: 18/20, 93/100
Would I buy it? Yes, clearly
Buy online: Dan Murphys, Moet Hennessey website

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About me – Andrew Graham

At 18, I started working in a small suburban bottleshop, largely to buy cheap beer. It was my first year of university, slogging through physics and chemistry, so a liquor shop seemed like fun. Needless to say, I discovered wine, and my life evolved with a unique dual focus - wine and environment.

Twenty years later and I spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.

I now judge at wine shows around the world, sit on the Australian Wine List of the Year awards panel and was once a Wine Journalism Young Gun (but baby that was years ago).

Currently, I write features for a variety of publications including National Liquor News, Gourmet Traveller WINE and the RAS, plus I'm a former Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert.

In 2019 and 2020 I was voted in the Top 30 Best Wine Critics in The World, and in my spare time, I'm a sucker for punishment and run trail ultra marathons, much to the delight of my long-suffering family. Read more about me here or get in touch to book your next wine event with me here
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Cloudy Bay Marlborough Chardonnay 2012