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  • About Me – Andrew Graham
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  • Beer

Castelli does it again with the 2014 Il Liris Chardonnay

April 11, 2016

Chardonnay is the most popular grape in my house. By a margin. Pinot rates highly when winter comes along, but Chardie is the champ.

I didn’t take this 2014 Castelli Estate Il Liris Chardonnay home, but I suspect that if I did, the bottle would drain as if by magic. Not only that, but it would be me who’d probably smash most of it.

This is superb Chardonnay.

The biggest appeal here is the complexity, driven by equally complex production – that includes some fruit picked at sparkling base ripeness; full solids and selective malolactic fermentation.

There’s a real cleverness about that craftsmanship which translates directly into the wine, delivering a smorgasboard of banana cream, lemon and oatmeal aromas, followed by a muti-layered palate of vanilla bean oak, solidsy wildness (complete with a cidery oxidative handling edge without going too far) rich fruit and then tangy acid, the long, creamed peach finish just a little lean but without any sharp edges in sight.

Another cracking vintage of this wine, which now must rate as one of Australia’s best Chardies that no one ever mentions in those ubiquitous ‘best of’ lists. Perhaps my only quibble lies with the slightly raw finish – which is why it rates marginally behind the ’13 – though that’s just a matter of six months in bottle.

Excellent stuff otherwise. A little price rise (and now in a heavy bottle complete with Vinolok) but so worth the dollars. Yes. Best drinking: 2017-2022. 18.5/20, 94/100+. 13%, $60. Would I buy it? Sure would. 1er Cru Burgundy quality yet an average village price.

Castelli Il Liris Chardonnay

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Related Posts:

  • Two clever Great Southern wines from Castelli
  • The pointy end of Australian Chardonnay feat. Shaw &…
  • Montalto Estate Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay 2015
  • Eden Road Long Road Chardonnay 2012

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4 Comments


James Majer
April 11, 2016 at 10:58 AM
Reply

Thanks for the kind words! We’re pretty excited about this vintage as well…

Just a note – there was only a tiny increase in price this vintage and RRP is $60

Cheers!



    Andrew Graham
    April 11, 2016 at 11:00 AM
    Reply

    Thanks James! Might want to update your pricing online too – showing as $70 here: http://d1127951-27883.myweb.iinethosting.net.au/castelliestate.com.au/shop/il-lirischardonnay-blanc-2014/

      James Majer
      April 11, 2016 at 11:08 AM

      Thanks for the heads up! That’s actually a beta website (shouldn’t be viewable online), and hasn’t got all the correct details in yet. Onto it 🙂

Andrew Graham
April 11, 2016 at 11:11 AM
Reply

I hate when that happens. All sweet and keep up the good work!



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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, doing a degree that I didn't really like, and a liquor shop seemed like fun. Needless to say I discovered wine, my uni degree morphed into something completely different and wine/beer took over my life.

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

    While wearing my writer cap I write features for the likes of National Liquor News, Gourmet Traveller WINE and the RAS plus I'm a Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert. Read more about me here or get in touch to book your next wine event with me here.

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