Allegiance Wines The Matron Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2023
$30, 12.5% alcohol, screwcap, Tumbarumba.
This is a taut, tart, racy chardonnay with grapefruit, citrus, nectarine and nashi pears characters running the length of the palate. There’s a flash of cashew-like oak in the mix as well but it’s in modest measure; fruit does most of the talking here. Another year in bottle and this should be tip top ready to drink. 90 points.
This article was written by Campbell Mattinson, former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of the highly respected The Winefront site.
Mattinson has been an independent wine critic and photo-journalist since 1987. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the prized Best Australian Sports Writing Award.
Mattinson, who is 100% independent, puts a score out of 100 on every wine that he reviews. But what he’d rather do, is tell you the wine’s story.
