Clonale by Kooyong Chardonnay 2011
Tasting Notes
Vineyard
The 2011 Kooyong Clonale is an estate blend of Chardonnay from the Kooyong and Ballewindi vineyards. The parcels in this wine represent 7.6 hectares.
Winemaking
The fruit is whole bunch pressed and barrel fermented in French oak (12% new) without yeast inoculation. The sur lie maturation period was 7 months in barrel and a further 5 months in tank before bottling.
Vintage
Much has been said about the 2010 – 2011 growing season. When the Eastern states of Australia’s decade-long drought broke in September of 2010, the rains were met with great relief. The cooler conditions delayed vine development and gave expected harvest timeframes more akin to historical averages. However the growing season weather patterns came to be shaped by a strong La Niña, which meant Spring and Summer rains were frequent and significant, increasing the time demands on our viticulture team. This season we employed a number of techniques in the vineyard not used for a number of years, including leaf plucking to improve ventilation and sunlight interception in the fruit zone. Surprisingly, fruit set was good and cropping levels quite moderate despite the lack of heat and high humidity during flowering. The ripening period was cool and extended and has produced fragrant and delicate white wines, and Pinot Noirs with attractively ripe tannins, balanced natural acidity and elegant, savoury fruit..
Tasting Note - December 2011
Bright limey-straw colour. A delicate, aromatic nose showing grapefruit and lime, hints of fresh ginger, soft layers of cream and a quartzy silica minerality. The palate is pure and fine, with some flintiness. A Clonale that is pert and linear in youth but with the lees creaminess in place to build texture and weight as it matures.
Alcohol
13.0%
Drink
Will drink well whilst youthful but will reward careful medium term cellaring.
Download Tasting Notes
2011 (PDF)
2010 (PDF)
2009 (PDF)
Clonale by Kooyong Chardonnay 2011
Reviews
Note - reviews are for 2010 vintage
THE AGE GOOD WINE GUIDE 2012
This junior-label Kooyong chardonnay has impressive complexity on the nose, with fine mineral-flecked citrus fruits, white nectarine and a sense of genuine precision. The palate delivers the same edgy white stone-fruit and mineral flavours – very fine, composed and balanced chardonnay here. 93 points.
NICK STOCK
THE AUSTRALIAN WINE ANNUAL 2012
Elegant, savoury and restrained, with a fresh, citrusy bouquet of melon, pineapple and tropical fruits backed by spicy, vanilla noted of faintly toasty oak and smoked bacon. It’s moderately intense, with a bright, juicy core of fruit and rest5rained oak supported by a fine chalkiness, becoming quite waxy and savoury towards the finish. Finely balanced and likely to flesh out. 90 points
JEREMY OLIVER
TYSON STELZER.COM, October 2011
Clonale has hit the big time! Auditioned next to Pierro Chardonnay 09 for inclusion this week and Clonale got the gig – it’s a better wine! Ooh, aah! Ricocheting with grapefruit, fig and persimmon exoticity, nuanced with smoked ham, pulling into a clean-crafted finish. Drink 2011-2013. Rating: 94 points
TYSON STELZER
WINEFRONT.COM.AU, 6th September 2011
I’m pretty sure they never sent the 2009 vintage, so the review is missing from the site. I did, however, have a glass of it at a local restaurant recently and really liked it – it’s always a lovely wine to drink. Note this is now closed with a screwcap. DIAM gone. I also note that Mattinson has not reviewed a single Clonale, which I find amazing. Maybe it’s one of my pet wines? Lemon zest, nectarine and a distinctly savory, almost salty cracker, type of flavour. There’s plenty of things to like here – it’s not too austere, oak is subtle and toned down, it’s mid-weight yet of full flavour and there’s a long tight flinty finish. Wheaty complexity too. Have 92-93 written down, so slightly ambiguous, but in no way am I ambivalent. This is a lovely drinking wine. Drink 2011-2016. Rating: 93 points
GARY WALSH
WINE OF THE WEEK - Saturday 20th August 2011
www.wdwineoftheweek.blogspot.com
Kooyong and sister winery Port Phillip Estate were recently named as his wineries of the year by James Halliday – and there’s no doubt the veteran guru still has his finger on the pulse; Sandro Mosele, the winemaker for both labels, is hitting the ball out of the park on a regular basis, as with this moderately (relatively) priced chardonnay that ticks all the boxes for quality (including being under screw cap). It’s undergone bells and whistles winemaking with whole-bunch pressing, barrel fermentation in French oak (12% new), on lees maturation etc etc. But it doesn’t taste like a wine that has been worked. Rather, it has lovely pure citrus fruit characters, minerality and the merest hint of nuttiness. An elegant wine for the price.
WINSOR DOBBIN
Download Reviews
2010 (PDF)
2009 (PDF)
2008 (PDF)