Delicate on opening, this Chardonnay grows in stature and depth of flavour as it breathes. There is a creamy, almost cheesy character from lees stirring while the wine was in barrel, good acid, subtle French oak and plenty of stonefruits. Lovely!
Levantine Hill is rated 5 red stars by James Halliday. Even more impressively, Huon Hooke rates them the 30th best winery in the country, ahead of Penfolds (31), Yangarra, Woodlands, Shaw and Smith, Torbreck, Giaconda, Moss Wood, John Duval and a slew of other ladlers of luminary libations. Levantine have superb vineyards and growers and a brilliant winemaker in Paul Bridgemen who was formerly the winemaker for Yarra Yering. Levantine’s lofty ambitions are well encapsulated by the following quote “We hope this estate will transcend man’s inevitable mortality and brief custodianship of all things material.” Fortunately, the proof is in the bottle as confirmed by Jeremy Oliver who says “Levantine Hill produces wines of European elegance and subtlety and its quality aspirations are frankly inspiring.”
#html-body [data-pb-style=E287KST]{justify-content:flex-start;display:flex;flex-direction:column;background-position:left top;background-size:cover;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-attachment:scroll}#html-body [data-pb-style=E287KST],#html-body [data-pb-style=KK8464N]{border-style:none;border-width:1px;border-radius:0;margin:0;padding:0}Yarra Valley, just an hours drive east from Melbourne, is one of Australia's great cool-weather regions. Chardonnay lives happily here, granting the wines notes of peach and fig. The real standout is Pinot Noir, that fickle red that challenges winemakers everywhere. The Yarra terroir is very suitable, producing co ... Read Full Article
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Variety
Chardonnay
Chardonnay sits on the fence of many a wine enthusiast. Versatile, kind in nature and oh s ...
Chardonnay sits on the fence of many a wine enthusiast. Versatile, kind in nature and oh so compliant, however for most it's still dressed in attire that's so distinctly... 90s. Shoulder pads, overalls and bike shorts saw this particular version of white wine with such a wooded vengeance, we were practically asking the chefs to take the butter out of the meals to make way for it. Thankfully however, times are a changin'. Underneath all that 90s getup reveals elegance and sophistication and Australia is doing its bit to make Chardy interesting again. Read Full Article
By now you have probably guessed I'm partial to a glass of wine or two! Yes, I do drink other drinks but wine with dinner after a day of parenting is, well ESSENTIAL!! I have visited many wineries and am part of quite a few wine clubs, and along with visiting local independent bottle shops, I pick up some GREAT bargains online. A good chunk of those come from winedirect.com.au and my mate Dan who is the business development manager there!
Right, we need two bottles of wine for this recipe. One to cook with and one to drink. They say that you should only cook with what you drink but in my opinion, I defo don't use what I drink to cook. Granted, if I was in a high-end restaurant, I'd probably be refining my cooking a lot more but the truth is I ain't so let's focus on the drinking wine.
Shellfish and butter... never a bad thing, right? Right! Pair it up with a Chardy from Pemberton for a truly local experience...
Ingredients
2 whole marron (or crayfish)
If they are still alive, place the marron into the freezer for 5 minutes to put them to sleep. Sliced in half lengthways and clean out the head and veins.
2 ripe peaches (cut into wedges)
6-8 cherry tomatoes (halved)
Fish stock:
This will make approximately 1 litre of stock and you can freeze what you don't use.
1 litre water
1 white fish (head & frame only, ask your local fish monger)
1 brown onion (diced)
1 tbsp fennel seeds
To Finish:
50g chopped butter
2 courgette flowers (halved)
2 tbsp chopped chives
2 tbsp Yarra Valley Salmon Caviar
Method
Prepare the fish stock. Wash fish frame, place into a pot with water, chopped onion and fennel seeds, bring to the boil, skim, simmer for 20 minutes then strain through muslin cloth.
Heat a pan
Chardonnay sits on the fence of many a wine enthusiast. Versatile, kind in nature and oh so compliant, however for most it's still dressed in attire that's so distinctly... 90s. Shoulder pads, overalls and bike shorts saw this particular version of white wine with such a wooded vengeance, we were practically asking the chefs to take the butter out of the meals to make way for it. Thankfully however, times are a changin'. Underneath all that 90s getup reveals elegance and sophistication and Australia is doing its bit to make Chardy interesting again.
Yarra Valley, just an hours drive east from Melbourne, is one of Australia's great cool-weather regions. Chardonnay lives happily here, granting the wines notes of peach and fig. The real standout is Pinot Noir, that fickle red that challenges winemakers everywhere. The Yarra terroir is very suitable, producing complex wines with deep notes of berry and plum.
History
In many ways, the Yarra is one of the real survivors in the Australina wine industry. Vines and wineries were around as early as the 1830's, with names like St Huberts and Yeringberg garnering praise and getting attention overseas. Sadly, the economic downturn in the late 1800's hit the region's wineries hard, and by the 1930's vines were replaced by pasture. It was in the 1960's, as was the case elsewhere in Australia, that local Doc's got into the Yarra wine trade. This fostered a revival of plantings and winemaking in the region, with quality table wines popping up. St Huberts and Yeringberg re-opened,
