More fashionable wine regions tend to capture much of the publicity for chardonnay these days, but the Hunter Valley’s two top labels, Lake’s Folly and Tyrrell’s Vat 47 are performing at such a high level in recent vintages you simply have to ask the question why there aren’t more like them. Lake’s Folly has followed up its plush, savoury 2002 vintage with an absolute cracker from 2003 that simply exudes tightness and elegance, while the Tyrrell’s Vat 47 from 2002 (see tasting notes posted today) takes this label to another dimension of structure and complexity. More heavily worked, structured and reductive than my memory of preceding vintages at this age, it’s a step up in weight and complexity. Like the Folly, it should develop in the bottle for some years. With all the recent focus on the Hunter’s redevelopment, why are the region’s other makers apparently content to let these two labels stay so far ahead of the pack? I’m sure they’d relish the competition.
