2009 Kevin John Chardonnay Magnum
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Title:
2009 Kevin John Chardonnay Magnum 
This Chardonnay was made from fruit grown on three separate blocks, in which the loamy surface soil overlays laterite and clay. The oldest Chardonnay vines were planted in 1976 and the youngest in 1988 and thus even the latter are well over twenty years old. The antiquity of those vines helps account for the complexity of the Kevin John Chardonnay. The fruit for the 2009 Kevin John was picked at intervals over two weeks and at Baumés ranging from 12.1 to 13.5˚. It was then whole bunch pressed using a basket press and the juice fermented employing wild yeasts.Read More
Tasting Notes
Colour:
Brilliant straw colour with green tinges.
Bouquet:
Complex, peach and citrus fruit flavours are backed by subtle vanillin oak.
Palate:
Integrated and pure pear and peach fruit flavours are perfectly complemented by the crisp acidity and the benefits of maturation in high quality oak. Superbly balanced and with great length and line. Persistent and delicious.
Cellaring:
10 years.
Food:
Seafood and chicken.
Awards:
“White Wine of the Year”
Ray Jordan, The West Australian Wine Guide 2012, 97 points
The nose is so fine and precise. Keen mineral and fine lime and grapefruit juice strike immediately. The palate is so delicate yet there is power and precision through to an exceptionally long finish. Fruit was whole bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeast before spending nine months in new French oak. Textured, balanced and delicate.
Reviews:
Rich ripe and complex, with a hint of funkiness. Quite reserved at the moment, showing white peach fruit. Needs a little time to develop flavour and complexity.
One of the pinnacles of Australian Chardonnay (has the price to go with it.) Beautifully crafted showing skill from vineyard via winemaker to bottling; still very youthful therefore tight in certain aspects but that is being picky. 94 now more to come. All is in place, store it well and it will repay the keeping, as to price if you have the money spend it on this wine if not then there are plenty of good Chardonnay’s around.
Light yellow. Pear, lemon gelato, honeysuckle and toasty oak on the nose. Smoky orchard fruit flavors show good density and are lifted by tangy acidity. A sweet melon note emerges with air and carries through the very long, smoky and penetrating finish. There's a refreshing bitter overtone here that will make this wine flexible at the table. 92 points.
The 2009 shows spicy cinnamon oak hints on the nose with perfumed, slinky pear on a lithe palate with zesty, lemon citrus acidity. It finishes long and limpid and, though possessed of a cool restraint, it August has tremendous underlying fruit intensity – that muscularity - well supported by oak, used for structure not seasoning. An utterly compelling Chardonnay with a long life ahead – at least 10 years based on the vertical I enjoyed at last month’s 40th birthday celebrations.
The finest Chardonnay released this year to date. Big call, but Kevin John trumps allcomers in its coiled-up restraint, latent power, deep-set minerality and complexity.
Tight and creamy on the nose. Very fine and delicate and focused. Masses of youthful acidity. Doesn't seem anywhere near ready. Basket press. Very fine.
The journey continues with impressive pose and grace. This latest Cullen chardonnay rests between the previous two vintages, but we’re talking shades of the same colour: complex, mealy aromas sit across lemon curd, nectarine and peach, some oak spice too, but impressive clarity and concentration of fruit is at the heart of things. The palate’s scintillatingly crisp, with a strong core of fresh acid cut, plenty of deep-set toasty oak and a long trail of beautifully toasted almond through the finish – and, ultimately, a lip-smackingly zesty swipe to close. One of the finest and most concentrated chardonnays yet made in Australia.
A substantial wine, not for the long term, but likely to evolve impressively over the next four to five years. Very mealy, complex and oaky, with assertive creamy, leesy undertones beneath its grapefruit, melon and pineapple aromas, it’s laced with spicy nuances of cloves and cinnamon, with some floral, waxy notes emerging. Deeply layered, sumptuous and mouthfilling, its intense core of fruit, nutty and mealy complexity and tight-knit oak balance neatly, finishing with length and strength.
Rich, powerful and very complex toasty aromas of oatmeal, nougat, peanut brittle, with rip stone fruit and a wild balsamic overtone. Full-bodied with tremendous depth and length, yet also tightness of structure.
Vanya Cullen and her deputy Trevor Kent push this exemplary biodynamic winery to ever-higher levels. The Chardonnay especially has acquired another level of complexity and charm in recent years. Wild primary and malolatic ferments, earlier picking and lower alcohols, sensitive usage and choice of oak and shunning of acid addition are all ingredients in the mix. The flagship white is the magnificent Kevin John Chardonnay, a true grand cru Burgundy impersonator, while the Cullen Vineyard Sauvignon-Semillon is also superb, and ages into something miraculous after 10 years. The simpler, more fruit driven Mangan Vineyard Sauvignon-Semillon is also very good. Tangy, edgy and lean, with a firmness and angularity. Chablis-esque: chalky, honeyed, complex and layered. Also tight, with frisky acidity. A magical wine of line, length and steely purity.
Drink 2012-2017.