JM 1ST APPROACH

Pale straw. Classic southern Margaret River grapefruit and dried pear fruits dominate the nose at this early stage. Plenty of nutty flavours and mealy notes from the lees stirring and quality French oak. Lovely soft and textured fruits dominate the palate. This Chardonnay is very creamy with the regional dried pear and pink grapefruit starting to show through.

This wine exhibits strong fruit flavours in the dried pear and grapefruit spectrum. It is full-flavoured with nutty characters and toasty French oak. The 2008 Chardonnay displays ripe stone fruits, dried pear, tropical fruits and noticeable creamy nuttiness from the lees contact. The early picking, wild fermentation, use of grape solids, and ongoing batonage gives the wine complexity and balance. These winemaking techniques combined with high quality French oak produce a wine with ample flavour and texture, yet still refined and structured, as all Voyager Estate Chardonnays are.

Our style of Chardonnay requires carefully layering flavours to achieve balance and harmony. These wines are typically refined, elegant and structured. Selecting the Chardonnay clones that best express the characters of our site has always been an important consideration. The expressive fruit characters from the Gin Gin clone and texture found in Clone 95 combine beautifully to form the foundation of our Estate Chardonnay.

Strong citrus aromas and grapefruit pith with flinty mineral notes. The textural palate is long and intense, driven by a tightly woven core of lemon pith and grapefruit with a clean, flinty mineral finish.

A very adult wine this; fully mature on release and beautifully structured in a willowy, elegant way. The alcohol level is just 12.8% but there is no shortage of flavour with a lovely balance between citrus and stone fruit notes on the palate. There is a steely acid core here and complexity from 100% barrel fermentation and 10 months in 33% new French oak. At no point does the oak intrude, however. It is simply a counterpoint to the fine fruit, adding texture and interest. The epitomy of winemaking cool. Very impressive.Windsor Dobbin

Voyager Estate Chardonnay is one of Australian wine’s most consistent performers. When I saw it come in I tucked into it straight away. This 2009 release left me – at first – a little cold. That may be over-stating it, because from the start it seemed an attractively refined wine. Good power, reasonable length, nothing out of place. A good middle-ground wine boasting flavours of grapefruit, pear cider, ginger and woodspice. Well integrated toasty/bacony oak. And a lemony tang through the finish to complete the job nicely. At first I couldn’t find the X-factor – and then, a couple of hours from opening, it really started to rumble. Time in the cellar should work wonders for this little beauty.Rated : 95 Points Winefront.com.au