Fess Parker Ashley's Chardonnay 2023
14.2%v alcohol, cork, Sta Rita Hills.
This has a cooling herbs aspect to the run of stone fruit, brioche and cedar. There's a power to the fruit, a power to the oak, and a saline aspect to the acidity – the latter aspect arguably the wine’s strongest asset. A little more finesse in oak terms wouldn't go astray but for flavour you’re certainly not left short-changed here. 92 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 a respected 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 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.
