2008 Chardonnay $35
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Our Chardonnay is a classic cool climate style with nuances of white peach, melon & fig. The wine is wild yeast fermented in French oak barriques and held on yeast lees in barrel for 10 months. The palate shows great subtlety with restrained and integrated oak, a creamy richness and gentle persistence.
Reviews:
Nick Stock; Good Wine Guide 2012
"A restrained and steely Chardonnay that has a wealth of ripe stone fruits on the nose, along with some light oak aromas and some gentle complexity, but it's more pared back than previous vintages. The palate's smooth and even; pears and peaches run the length, soft, fleshy and even.
91 points
James Halliday wrote: 'Tight, long, and intense stone fruit and citrus; lingering finish, lemony acidity, subtle oak'.
94 points
Chris Shannahan: "If Lark Hill makes chardonnay this good in a warm year, then we've much to look forward to in the 2011, now bubbling away in barrels at the winery. At three years the 2008 seems barely to have begun life, it's so vibrant, youthful and alive with juicy, ripe varietal flavour. The palate has breadth, depth and rich texture – attributable, says winemaker Chris Carpenter, to glycerol from an indigenous yeast fermentation and extended contact with yeast lees after fermentation. High natural acidity, however, tightens the structure and, in combination with the pure, intense fruit flavour, suggests a long, graceful evolution with bottle age."