2019 Chardonnay By Farr

The Chardonnay by Farr comes from the same site as the Sangreal Pinot Noir. It’s an exposed, hungry north-facing slope of red soil over limestone, planted in 1994. The Chardonnay vines are a mixture of Dijon clones and P58. The fruit is picked by hand and whole-bunch pressed. All the solids are collected and chilled before being put to French oak barrels (30% new). A natural fermentation occurs over the next two to three weeks at cool temperatures. After fermentation, a bit of stirring helps start malolactic fermentation, which is usually completed by mid-spring. The wine is then racked, fined and lightly filtered before bottling 11 months after picking.
Brilliant pale straw colour with greenish tinged edges and a watery hue. Intense white peach, nectarine and dried honey aromas morph into biscuity oak, cashew and spicy nougat notes. Rich yet refined there’s great synergy between the wines creamy mouth filling texture and it’s freshness, the palate consumed with fleshy white peach, ripe nectarine and dried honey flavours. The complex back drop of biscuity oak, cashew, nougat and spice resembling that of great white Burgundy. Exceptional power and volume with a very long and richly textured aftertaste. A superb Australian Chardonnay.
Drink over the next 5-6 years.
Alc. 13.5%

Other Reviews….
We’re going to stick with the title By Farr Chardonnay if it’s the last thing we do.
No matter what you call it, this is a beautiful wine. It covers the bases of freshness, flavour, texture and length and then adds the indefinable. If you feel in desperate need of one long lazy afternoon then this hands it to you. It’s stone fruity and grapefruit-edged and flinty and none of those things. Its cedarwood notes are painted on the bare skin of chardonnay. Trust. From the first sip it establishes trust. Drink 2020-2028.
96 points
Campbell Mattinson – The Wine Front