I’m the first one to admit I’m a bit slow to take up fads or trends or to even throw things away. In fact I’m so bad that I still wear my Bronco’s “Back to Back Premierships” t-shirt with pride….that’s from 1993 for those of you that don’t follow the footy. Late last year the McGuigan Shortlist Chardonnay was brought to my attention, and I thought it was probably about time I picked up the ball and ran with this one.
The McGuigan name is well known in Australian winemaking, especially as an outstanding small batch producer. Four generations of the McGuigan family have now made wine their life, showing a strong dedication and love for Australian wine. It is this commitment to quality grape and wine production that has seen McGuigan produce outstanding wines for both domestic and international wine drinkers. Their wine portfolio starts at the “Black Label” range; a reliable, easy-drinking wine, and works its way up in quality (and price) to the “Hand Made” range, a hand-crafted, limited edition wine and the showpiece of McGuigan Wines. The Shortlist range comes in at the second top tier; it’s a limited release range with individually numbered bottles, with each wine in the Shortlist range having its own unique flavour and character, representing the regional fruit sourced from each vintage.
McGuigan’s “The Shortlist” Chardonnay has a won a swag of awards, the 2007 took three awards from the prestigious International Wine Challenge (IWC) in London, and the 2009 took a Silver medal just a few months ago at the 2010 judging. In fact McGuigan came away with 49 awards between the recent IWC and the Decanter World Wine Awards.
This Chardonnay is all the evidence I need of the brand’s quality; it shows quality Adelaide Hill’s cool climate fruit and has delightful melon and stone fruit flavours. It is a wonderfully rounded wine with a refreshing zippy finish and a light touch of spicy oak. It’s a lovely Chardonnay that will work well with a range of food. I tried the first bottle with fresh mackerel coming straight off the barbeque and it worked a treat, the second was washed down with about 100kgs of cheese! It isn’t a cellar worthy wine though, it is meant to be drunk young, but if so inclined give it 2- 4 years at most.
