Wakefield Jaraman Chardonnay 2018 (Australia) - Wine Review

Tonight's white wine review is a lovely Chardonnay from Australia. It's a new arrival to the LCBO that was featured in the theme on Australian wines in the October 16th LCBO VINTAGES Release.

After making wines for many years, the Taylors family founded Wakefield Wines in 1969 in the Clare Valley, South Australia, to make their own wines. With three generations of the family involved in the business today, Wakefield is one of the most respected names and consistently reliable producers in the industry.

This white wine is from the Jaraman range of wines. Australia's iconic wine regions provide great diversity of high quality fruit, and with the Jaraman range, the Taylors family seeks extraordinary parcels of fruit to showcase their distinctive regional characteristics and style. These wines showcase the skill and dedication of Wakefield's winemakers to their philosophy of respecting the fruit.

Although earlier vintages of this wine may have been crafted using fruit from only Clare Valley, more recent vintages have been regional blends. The 2018 vintage is 100% Chardonnay crafted with fruit from Clare Valley (66%) and Margaret River (34%). The growing season in Clare Valley in 2018 was warm and dry, and calm and controlled without any major heatwaves. Overall, the quality was very good with white varieties delivering high aromatics and very pure, distinct varietal characteristics. In Margaret River (Western Australia), the vintage was extraordinarily good with above average rainfall throughout winter and the start of spring that resulted in very good vine health at the start of the growing season. With ideal conditions conditions throughout the growing season and ripening phase, many consider the year in Margaret River to be an exceptional vintage.

The vinification of this wine is rather interesting. The juice was fermented in French oak barrels, 60% new, while the rest was in barrel-fermented in 2nd and 3rd use barrels to give great structure while retaining the vibrant fruit. Half of the parcels were wild fermented, while the other half was fermented using a strain of yeast designed for barrel ferments. After resting on its yeast lees and maturation for 8 months in barrel, the final wine was blended from both regional parcels and bottled with minimal fining and filtration. Let's see how this Australian Chardonnay is tasting tonight...

Tasting Note:

WAKEFIELD JARAMAN CHARDONNAY 2018 - Clare Valley/Margaret River, Australia (#18921) (XD) - $24.95
Screw cap. This 100% Chardonnay was barrel-fermented and has a medium-high intensity nose offering lovely oak-infused aromas of buttery, vanillin, and sweet oak spice that sits a top of poached apple, pear, and hints of pineapple and ripe tropical fruit. The weighty, medium-full bodied palate has buttery, lemon curd, ripe apple, sweet oak vanillin, and tropical fruit flavours with a twist of honey. Some spiciness on the mid-palate, along with fresh, juicy acidity. Buttery and flinty with a tinge of caramel lingers on the chalky textured finish, with very good length. Recommended buy. Score: 89 pts

Other lovely wines by Wakefield are available at the LCBO, as well as through their Agent - Profile Wine Group.