2015 Chateau Grillet
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Tasting notes
Very deep colour: pale apricot. Definitely slightly but not fatally oxidised. The initial impression was that it lacked acidity. Tastes like old apricot juice. But it improved in the glass – prune juice but with zest and just perceptible acidity. I’m dying to know what Livingstone-Learmonth – who says he’s seeking rock and roll – thinks of it! He says he’d head straight for the truffled scrambled eggs. A compliment presumably! A controversial wine that would probably be eliminated immediately from any Australian wine show. (JR)
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Pale yellow-gold. Deeply pitched, pungent lemon curd, white peach and pear nectar aromas are complicated by building floral, honey and smoky mineral flourishes. Rich yet surprisingly energetic in style, offering palate-staining orchard and pit fruit flavors that are sharpened by orange zest, mineral and candied ginger notes that build through the back half. Finishes impressively long and stony, with resonating florality and a late hint of tarragon.
Viognier. There’s apricot and peach but it seems to me to have the feel of an offcut, lacking the full intensity and fragrance of great Viognier. (RH)
Coming from mature vines located higher on the property’s slopes, the 2015 Chateau Grillet is a rich, intense, full-bodied wine of uncommon grace and elegance. It delivers some of Viognier’s hallmark floral-spicy-apricot notes but is actually more about textural richness and silk, balanced by hints of citrus zest and a briny character that lingers effortlessly on the finish.