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NOTES
A native of WA, Tim Burvill moved to SA in 1993 to do the winemaking course at the Adelaide University Roseworthy campus. Having completed an Honours degree in oenology, he was recruited by Southcorp, and quickly found himself in a senior winemaking position responsible for super-premium whites including Penfolds Yattarna.
Tim draws inspiration for RockBare Chardonnay from the Sauvignon Blanc wines from Sancerre in France. They have beautiful acidity with amazing mouth-feel and length of palate. I'm a firm believer that McLaren Vale Chardonnay is perfectly suited to emulating this style of wine. The grapes are harvested when the tropical flavours appear in the fruit (which is usually earlier than most other winemakers from McLaren Vale), ferment using yeast that enhance the aromatics of the wine and run the ferments at very cool temperatures.
This year the flavours in the Chardonnay seemed to develop at much lower Baumé levels than usual. This resulted in fantastic natural acidity, giving the wines wonderful freshness and intensity. This really is one of those wines that you reach for a second glass - it quickly made it to 'house wine' status in my home.
TASTING NOTES
Pale green in colour leading to an intense aroma of pineapples, mango and kiwi fruit. On the palate, this would probably be the most intense RockBare Chardonnay yet. It is a full-on tropical fruit log-jam! The wine abounds with intense pineapple juice flavours, along with some pears and red apples. The mid palate has RockBare Chardonnay’s trademark creamy/mealy flavours derived from 6 months of lees stirring.
Serve this wine lightly chilled. Its firm, fruity flavours with a hint of creaminess will suit straightforward dishes such as fresh seafood or roast chicken. Alternatively, this style of wine works equally well as an unaccompanied aperitif.
REVIEWS
Interesting wine with 3% semillon from the Adelaide Hills; a certain degree of underlying austerity is outside the norm for McLaren Vale, but no bad thing. Screwcap. 13.5% alc. Rating 89 Drink 2013 James Halliday, Tasted December 2008
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