By coincidence, another bottle of this wine - this time from another source. Ripe apricots and honey; oily texture and honeyed notes, lacks sufficient acid to hold up the chassis. This bottle appears to have swallowed the oak a bit better than the previous bottle from 17 October, however overall this one does not appear to be ageing in a positive direction.
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Deep gold. Pronounced oak-influence notes on the nose, the wine seems very unbalanced, with notes of dry sherry, the oak notes, and low acid pulling the wine in all different directions. No noticeable flaws with the wine, just seems like a muscle car that has become dated.
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Dark golden in colour; heavy aroma but bright on the palate. Strong tart citrus flavours, buttery, dry and reasonably oaky, creme brulee, heavy vanilla. Beautiful drinking, enjoyed after dinner and originally intended to be a dessert wine but was surpsingly dry and savoury.
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Light gold, youthful and lustrous. Honey, fine oak and light vanilla with mature tropical fruits. Medium intensity, starts soft but finishes powerfully. Lovely silky middle followed by a zesty crisp finish.
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From magnum. I am not good enough to properly describe this wine. It was, simply, superb. The best chardonnay I have ever tasted. Truly on song. Balanced, rich but complex, long and compelling. My WOTN in a tasting that included 5 vintages of Penfolds Grange.
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A long lunch at Helen's place (Martinborough, NZ): Rauno's second wine. Gold but not as deep a colour as the Neudorf. The nose showed some evolution but, again, not as much as the Neudorf. The aromas were honeyed citrus with some lactic creaminess. On the palate, a classy, rich but relatively low acid Chardonnay. Some at the table were straight to Giaconda, while I was just thinking 'high quality Australian'. Ripe, dense with a little apparent fruit sweetness. Excellent structure and length. Flavours of lemon, honey and pears, with some toasty oak present. I'd drink this Giaconda in the next five years.
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Magnum Christmas Party 2014: Mango, grapefruit, bananna and oak. Palate shows the oaks as well, with that same rich fruit coming over the top. In a bit of an awkward stage I thought and should be better in a couple of years out of Magnum.
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Deep gold, looks developed. Very toasty, oaky a bit out of balance, honeycomb, lemons. Intense, honey, spicey, heavy and too tiring to drink a lot of. Atypically developed.
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This is Australia’s Batard-Montrachet, big, rich, shapely, powerful and minerally. I tend to prefer the Giaconda’s of the early-mid 90’s but this 02 is just about in the right place and the best of the later releases for mine. It is buttery rich and dripping with orchard fruits and taking on a hint of mushroom and toast development. It has an intense, fruit sweet heart and has great sappy drive to the finish.
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This is a great chardonnay at the end of it's like. Lot's of tertiary characteristic. Very good persistance with voluptuous dried fruit. Enjoyed in large Irish glasses with Peter and Laura and Lil. The next bottle needs to be drunk sober!
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Golden color. Sweet lemon cream aroma with light toast. Very subtle. Toasty crisp apple & citrus cream flavors with a soft mouthfeel that finishes with oak toast & citrus acidity. Really holding up well. Outstanding Aussie Chardonnay!
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Certainly stood out with its spicy oak, rich lychee and candied peach fruits and fatter mouthfeel. It is a good wine but lacks the tension of the mid-nineties Giaconda’s upon which their reputation was forged.
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Wow. What an absolutely breathtaking wine. Straw yellow. Enticing nose of nectarine, nashi pear, cashew and pineapple, with a wafting undercurrent of butterscotch. Elegant fruity palate with luscious sweet oak and a crisp straight line of acidity. But what an incredible texture! Slippery rich silken butter that floats in your mouth like a half-remembered dream, anointing every surface. The taste and the memory of it seemed to linger for hours. Undeniably the best white wine I have ever tasted. I leave room for a few extra points at the top, but I can't see chardonnay getting any better than this.
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Oustanding! Exceptional! Still looks very youthful - not at all like a 6 year old Aussie Chardonnay. Beautiful acidity gives freshness to a complex and very refined white wine. Super long finish. A ripper!
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Blind Chardonnay Tasting (Sydney, Australia): Toast, spice, honey and flint on the nose. Nice length and balance to the palate with a richness to the fruit that provides a pleasing mouthfeel. An excellent wine to finish proceedings.
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Nose has good intensity - toasty, spicy and caramel oak, citrus, nutty and minerally/flinty characters. What I really enjoyed about this wine was its texture and mouth-feel. It has very good length with excellent structure. It should develop very well over the next 5-7 years.
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Looks a little developed for a 2yr old with more deeper gold hues. Very little obvious fruit on the nose, quite stern, firm and oaky. Euro feel. All encompassing palate, hits every point of the mouth. Excellent nutty notes - screams class. Oak is not obtrusive. Ultimately needs time as the wine, despite its obvious appeal, feels restrained and tight. Must have at least 4 years ahead of it.
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10/26/2020 - lightning wrote: 84 Points
By coincidence, another bottle of this wine - this time from another source. Ripe apricots and honey; oily texture and honeyed notes, lacks sufficient acid to hold up the chassis. This bottle appears to have swallowed the oak a bit better than the previous bottle from 17 October, however overall this one does not appear to be ageing in a positive direction.
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10/17/2020 - lightning wrote: 79 Points
Deep gold. Pronounced oak-influence notes on the nose, the wine seems very unbalanced, with notes of dry sherry, the oak notes, and low acid pulling the wine in all different directions. No noticeable flaws with the wine, just seems like a muscle car that has become dated.
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6/19/2020 - robferguson1 wrote: 90 Points
Cork in great shape but was well advanced and very toasty and not delightful but still reminded of the class of Giaconda
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5/5/2019 - robferguson1 wrote: 93 Points
Classy and French in style, great life for Aussie but it really ain’t Aussie.
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12/31/2018 - Jim Yencken Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dark golden in colour; heavy aroma but bright on the palate. Strong tart citrus flavours, buttery, dry and reasonably oaky, creme brulee, heavy vanilla. Beautiful drinking, enjoyed after dinner and originally intended to be a dessert wine but was surpsingly dry and savoury.
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7/21/2018 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 92 Points
Light gold, youthful and lustrous.
Honey, fine oak and light vanilla with mature tropical fruits.
Medium intensity, starts soft but finishes powerfully. Lovely silky middle followed by a zesty crisp finish.
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3/19/2015 - ozoenophile Likes this wine: 97 Points
From magnum. I am not good enough to properly describe this wine. It was, simply, superb. The best chardonnay I have ever tasted. Truly on song. Balanced, rich but complex, long and compelling. My WOTN in a tasting that included 5 vintages of Penfolds Grange.
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12/6/2014 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 93 Points
A long lunch at Helen's place (Martinborough, NZ): Rauno's second wine. Gold but not as deep a colour as the Neudorf. The nose showed some evolution but, again, not as much as the Neudorf. The aromas were honeyed citrus with some lactic creaminess. On the palate, a classy, rich but relatively low acid Chardonnay. Some at the table were straight to Giaconda, while I was just thinking 'high quality Australian'. Ripe, dense with a little apparent fruit sweetness. Excellent structure and length. Flavours of lemon, honey and pears, with some toasty oak present. I'd drink this Giaconda in the next five years.
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11/28/2014 - CamWheeler wrote: 90 Points
Magnum Christmas Party 2014: Mango, grapefruit, bananna and oak. Palate shows the oaks as well, with that same rich fruit coming over the top. In a bit of an awkward stage I thought and should be better in a couple of years out of Magnum.
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4/27/2013 - Dsen Likes this wine: 95 Points
great wine, well balanced
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1/20/2012 - St Paul wrote: 91 Points
A very nice and well structured chardonnay. Australia can def make some lovely chards.
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1/18/2012 - Vini Ciclismo wrote: flawed
Deep gold, looks developed. Very toasty, oaky a bit out of balance, honeycomb, lemons. Intense, honey, spicey, heavy and too tiring to drink a lot of. Atypically developed.
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2/19/2011 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
This is Australia’s Batard-Montrachet, big, rich, shapely, powerful and minerally. I tend to prefer the Giaconda’s of the early-mid 90’s but this 02 is just about in the right place and the best of the later releases for mine. It is buttery rich and dripping with orchard fruits and taking on a hint of mushroom and toast development. It has an intense, fruit sweet heart and has great sappy drive to the finish.
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7/9/2010 - malcclark wrote: 89 Points
This is a great chardonnay at the end of it's like. Lot's of tertiary characteristic. Very good persistance with voluptuous dried fruit. Enjoyed in large Irish glasses with Peter and Laura and Lil. The next bottle needs to be drunk sober!
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2/16/2010 - ed-d wrote: 93 Points
Golden color. Sweet lemon cream aroma with light toast. Very subtle. Toasty crisp apple & citrus cream flavors with a soft mouthfeel that finishes with oak toast & citrus acidity. Really holding up well. Outstanding Aussie Chardonnay!
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3/9/2009 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Certainly stood out with its spicy oak, rich lychee and candied peach fruits and fatter mouthfeel. It is a good wine but lacks the tension of the mid-nineties Giaconda’s upon which their reputation was forged.
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6/5/2008 - spaniel wrote: 98 Points
Wow. What an absolutely breathtaking wine. Straw yellow. Enticing nose of nectarine, nashi pear, cashew and pineapple, with a wafting undercurrent of butterscotch. Elegant fruity palate with luscious sweet oak and a crisp straight line of acidity. But what an incredible texture! Slippery rich silken butter that floats in your mouth like a half-remembered dream, anointing every surface. The taste and the memory of it seemed to linger for hours. Undeniably the best white wine I have ever tasted. I leave room for a few extra points at the top, but I can't see chardonnay getting any better than this.
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4/2/2008 - mattiasjansson wrote: flawed
Corked
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4/2/2008 - kstoddard wrote: flawed
eRobert Parker Offline - Whites (Backstreet Wine Salon, Phoenix): Corked
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3/1/2008 - Redzed wrote: 96 Points
Oustanding! Exceptional! Still looks very youthful - not at all like a 6 year old Aussie Chardonnay. Beautiful acidity gives freshness to a complex and very refined white wine. Super long finish. A ripper!
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8/26/2007 - CamWheeler wrote: 91 Points
Blind Chardonnay Tasting (Sydney, Australia): Toast, spice, honey and flint on the nose. Nice length and balance to the palate with a richness to the fruit that provides a pleasing mouthfeel. An excellent wine to finish proceedings.
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4/8/2006 - CamWheeler wrote: 93 Points
Nose has good intensity - toasty, spicy and caramel oak, citrus, nutty and minerally/flinty characters. What I really enjoyed about this wine was its texture and mouth-feel. It has very good length with excellent structure. It should develop very well over the next 5-7 years.
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9/21/2004 - StewartWent wrote: 92 Points
Looks a little developed for a 2yr old with more deeper gold hues. Very little obvious fruit on the nose, quite stern, firm and oaky. Euro feel. All encompassing palate, hits every point of the mouth. Excellent nutty notes - screams class. Oak is not obtrusive. Ultimately needs time as the wine, despite its obvious appeal, feels restrained and tight. Must have at least 4 years ahead of it.
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