As optimistic as I reckon I am, I don’t often get a genuine surprise with Australian wine these days. But I enjoyed one earlier today. Over the years I confess it has been something of a chore to taste many of Wyndham Estate’s wines, the Bin 222 Chardonnay especially. A glimpse at the site reveals that the highest score received by any vintage of this wine was back in 1995, which rated a dramatic 15.5. But that was yesterday’s Bin 222. Pointed handsomely above this wine is the 2001 vintage, which at 16.5 (drink 2003-2006) is a pleasingly generous, honest chardonnay with enough tobaccoey, green melon fruit and toasty development to suggest a reasonable Hunter Valley component. There’s a hint of bathpowder and the wine finishes clean with refreshing acidity. Even better is the current 2002 vintage (16.9, drink 2003-2004+), which is found for around $13 a bottle. It’s made from riper, more luscious and vibrant fruit than the 2001 edition, and presents a spectrum of ripe melon, peach and grapefruit flavours tightly knit with vanilla and buttery oak, then finishing dry and framed by racy acids. Hats off to Wyndham’s winemaking team for a marvellous effort at this price. I will certainly attack other recent Wyndham Estate vintages with more enthusiasm! Wyndham Estate is a long-established wine brand that forms part of the Orlando Wyndham Group, itself fully owned by Pernod Ricard.
