96 Points - Angus Hughson
Greywacke is the venture of Kevin Judd, former winemaker at Cloudy Bay for twenty five years and in the process established it as the world's most famous Sauvignon Blanc producer. The Greywacke wines are made by Kevin at Dog Point Winery in the lower Brancott Valley, a facility extended to him by long-standing friends and industry colleagues, Ivan Sutherland and James Healy.
The 2017 Greywacke Chardonnay is another high quality white wine from the team at Greywacke. Complex and generous, this offers a deliciously rich amalgam of pink grapefruit, figs and baked apples intertwine with more savoury characters redolent of meadow hay, toasted hazelnuts and buttered brioche. This grapefruit and nutty savouriness pervades the crisp, dry palate, while the power and concentration of the Mendoza clone creates an extraordinarily long finish that lingers and lingers.
"96 Points. While many Australian winemakers have shied away from oak in recent times, our friends across the ditch plus wine drinkers around the world still like their chardonnays layered with toasty vanilla, and here we have a great example. This chardonnay delivers both intensity and fruit complexity all wound up in a blanket of French Oak. It is light golden in colour with powerful peach skin, florals, butter and grilled nut aromas which are underscored by spicy oak. Dry, full-bodied and creamy in texture, it explodes on the palate with sea spray, buttery, nutty slightly oxidative flavours all kept in check by fresh acidity. Despite four years of age, it still feels young and maybe the oak is a little raw too right now so give it a couple of years and then sit back and enjoy. $50. Drink: 2024 - 2032"- Angus Hughson, winepilot.com