I did I look rather sceptically at the bottle of Yendah Vale Chardonnay Merlot 1998. Bottled inside clear glass, the wine has the pinkish colour of something young and daring from the southern Rhone although its creator, John Casella, would rather it didn’t look any different from normal chardonnay. For that’s how he views this wine; but instead of using oak to give length and complexity he’s chosen red wine. He discovered that merlot complemented chardonnay better than spicy shiraz but realised that anything less than 5% merlot left the chardonnay too short and acidic. The unusual combination of ripe stonefruit and red berry flavours, creamy texture and clean finish revealed by this new wine help it match a remarkably wide range of foods. Or it’s fine simply to chill and drink by itself. For $12 per bottle I recommend this early drinking wine (16.3/20) to you and suggest that you taste it before making up your mind.
