As penance for my sins, I spend an inordinate amount of time traipsing around Australian wine regions and capital cities judging in wine shows. It’s a thankless task, but I enjoy the palate gymnastics and the exposure to the breadth of our land’s vinous produce.
One wine that recently charged across my field of vision, picking up several trophies, including the Wine Show of Western Australia and the Wine of Show at this year’s Margaret River Wine Show, was this absolute belter of a Chardonnay.
Nocturne is a wee label that is the brainchild of husband and wife team, Jules and Alana Langworthy. He is the 2016 Jimmy Watson award-winning winemaker at Deepwoods Estate; she is the owner and maker of kick arse cheese at the Yallingup Cheese Company. They have made wines together in the past, but this fledgling label focuses on single-vineyard wines and the range of offerings is superb.
It’s got all you could ask for of a delicious Chardonnay: purity of fruit, clarity of detail, drive across the palate, textural nuance and a serious case of ‘pour me another glass’. Pristine white peach and nectarine fruit leads the way with hints of marzipan, soft spice, grilled nuts, biscuit-y oak and just the right volume of struck-match complexity.
In the mouth it is wonderfully balanced and shows a textural, pithy edge that is just gorgeous. Plenty of drive, fine acidity and latent power but overall it is a wine of elegance and restraint. And that, my friends, is a most beautiful thing. Chardonnay in Australia is on a roll.
NOCTURNE 2016 Single-Vineyard Chardonnay
nocturnewines.com.au
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