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Giant Steps Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay
2008
Chardonnay
Rich
Australia
Poultry
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This Chardonnay hails from the Yarra Valley, a foggy region of Australia in the rolling hills just outside of Melbourne, a city often compared to San Francisco for its cool climate and Asian cultural influence. Over the past three decades this area has emerged as Australia's pre-eminent region for both Pinot Noir and its sister grape, Chardonnay. The Yarra Valley has a range of soil types, from mountain-derived sandy loams to broken sandstone to red volcanic soils.
Roast chicken with lemon and thyme or rosemary is an easy match for this white, as are lobster with clarified butter or seared diver scallops. Seafood with a tropical fruit salsa that mirrors the wine or briny capers that complement it will also work well.
After selling his first successful wine brand, winemaker Phil Sexton purchased a gorgeous tract in the rolling hills of the Yarra Valley in 1998. Sexton named the estate after the John Coltrane composition that created a fresh framework for modern jazz, and he sketched out a new approach to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Australia, crafting wines of exceptional finesse and elegance.
Moderately oaked, with minimal malolactic fermentation, this fineboned Chardonnay has bright pineapple, Asian pear, guava and Meyer lemon aromas with a hint of smoke, and crisp, taut lemon-lime, pineapple, lemon curd, mineral and croissant flavors. It has a great texture that seems to build from beginning to end.