2016 Shaw & Smith - Chardonnay M3 Vineyard
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Tasting notes
Warm vintage with even ripening. Fruit mainly from their Lenswood vineyard at 455–500 m and planted in 1999. Hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. Matured on lees in French oak barriques and puncheons. Lively with some stoniness and lees influence. Good build towards the impressively lingering finish. (JR)
Critic scores
Average Score
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
The 2016 M3 Chardonnay kicks off with trace aromas of struck match and roasted cashew, then opens out to grilled pineapple and peach. It's medium to full-bodied, providing a generous mid-palate of fruit, then tightens up and refocuses on the citrus-laden finish. It's one of the best M3 Chardonnays I can recall tasting, showing lovely balance and complexity.
Smoke, cream, ripe but not cooked fruit with tangerine, peach and lemon flavours. Succulent, sophisticated and all in proportion. (RH)
Toast and oyster shell on the nose with all the salinity and poise of great Chablis. Yet there is much more substance on the palate, not too dissimilar to the likes of Pouilly-Fuissé, in fact. Would be a great challenge to identify this blind! Really terroir-driven. (RH)