Shy Susan Chardonnay 2023

Written By Campbell Mattinson
Bottle of Shy Susan Chardonnay 2023.

Shy Susan Chardonnay 2023
$55, 13% alcohol, screwcap, Alpine Valleys.

From a ridiculously low yielding clone, and there are only two rows of it. It takes the Billy Button/Shy Susan crew three days to pick a miniscule 900 kgs. This chardonnay is distinctly different to everything else we see from the Alpine Valleys. It sees no new oak.

Smoky notes, a bit of flint, a core of white peach, a smear of nougat. This is A Grade chardonnay. It has an intensity, it’s complex, it’s elegant and it extends. Bacony oak, lactose and almond paste characters apply a gentle satiny-creaminess to the mouthfeel. This is a wine of character and length; it will still be drinking well in 20 years time. Leave this alone for a few years and then revel in it. 95+ points.

Campbell Mattinson

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He founded The Winefront, is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion (and former editor of Halliday magazine), and is the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He is 100% independent, and tastes between 5,000 and 10,000 wines each year, blind and in comparative brackets as often as is practicable.

More about Campbell Mattinson

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
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