2021 Coates The Reserve Chardonnay

Awarded an MW of wine in 2020, winemaker Duane Coates is by his own admission, a 'heart over head' winemaker. Inclined to make wine from almost any interesting parcel of fruit made available to him, he tends to make accountants wince. For Duane, making great wine is not about business decisions; it’s about curiosity, passion, and a little bit of folly. His wines marry Australia’s richness of fruit with the savouriness and complexity of the old world.
Sourced from a single vineyard block in the Kuitpo region of the Adelaide Hills, Coates Reserve Chardonnay sees longer oak ageing and a higher proportion of new oak compared to their standard Chardonnay. Fruit comes from two harvest times; an earlier pick to maintain a taut acid backbone and minerality with a later pick (about 10 days later) to capture subtle tropical fruit and stone fruit characters. Fermented and matured on lees without racking for a period of 15 months in a mix of new (60%) and second use (40%) in French oak barriques.

Rich, concentrated and powerful yet refined and sophisticated this is a superb example of Adelaide Hills Chardonnay

Brilliant pale straw colour with a subtle glimmer of green to the edges and a watery hue. Engulfing the olfactory senses is a Burgundian like aromatic profile of white peach, nectarine, dried honey and cashew scents which are intermeshed with complexing biscuity oak, nougat, crème brulee and spice notes. Rich, concentrated and powerful yet simultaneously possessing sublime refinement the palate is layered with mouthfilling flavours of fleshy white peach, nectarine and dried honey. Cashew, biscuity nougat characters, crème brulee and spice elements are then elaborated across the back half. Expansive and creamy textured it nonetheless finishes fresh, concluding long, sophisticated and highly finessed.
Drink over the next 5-6 years.
Alc. 13%

Other Reviews....
It is incredible to think that this wine is among the more expensive cuvées at this stellar address (rightly so, by the way) and yet there are wines twice this price that barely nudge the quality on show here. Lees-derived aromas of roasted hazelnut, curry powder and dried straw. Creamed cashew, sexy oak vanillins, nougatine and stone fruit allusions aplenty. The oak, a perceivable framework, albeit, nicely judged in lieu of a mid-term ageing window. In five to eight years, this will unravel into a masterpiece. Drink by 2030.
96 points
Ned Goodwin - James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion