2004 RESERVE CHARDONNAY
RALPH KYTE-POWELL and HUON HOOKE
2007 THE PENGUIN GOOD AUSTRALIAN WINE GUIDE
BEST WHITE WINE and BEST CHARDONNAY
Careful viticulture and fruit selection, determination and focus from management , and Rick Kinzbrunner's inspired winemaking has made Toolangi Reserve one of Australia's great chardonnay's - and it's only taken a handful of vintages. Who knows what the future might bring?
The '04 is a super-complex, Meursault-inspired drop with captivating aromas of citrus, honey, oatmeal, patisserie cream and minerals. It's silky smooth in the mouth, perhaps a bit more depth than the 2003 edition. Texture and flavour are full of interest and beautifully sustained, finishing savoury and lingering. Delicious with pork cutlets and sauteed apples. Rating: 98
JAMES HALLIDAY, AUSTRALIAN WINE COMPANION
2007 Edition
Ultra complex and concentrated; remarkable for the '04 vintage, having outstanding richness, texture and structure to the ripe stone fruit flavours; quite Burgundian. Made by Rick Kinzbrunner. Cork. 14% alc. Rating: 96. Drink: 2015. $65
HUON HOOKE, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
16 May 2006
Can chardonnay be more complex and powerful than this? It has mind bending layers of flavour: toffee, vanilla, caramel, stone fruits, nuts and butter. Amazingly powerful and long on the finish. 96/100. Food: char-grilled lobster
SALLY GUDGEON, SUNDAY LIFE MAGAZINE
THE AGE, 30 April 2006
Malo adds complexity, as in this superb barrel-fermented wine. Look out for stone fruit, citrus and hazelnuts on the nose and the rich palate....
- Malo - Malolactic fermentation, occurs in some table wines after primary fermentation. Its purpose is to soften the palate by converting sour malic acid into gentler lactic acid.
RALPH KYTE-POWELL, THE AGE EPICURE
21 March 2006
Are Toolangi reserves the best Yarra Valley chardonnays? Made by Rick Kinzbrunner at Giaconda, the '04 is a complex youngster with aromas of honey, citrus, muesli and vanilla cream. Velvet-smooth, bigger and warmer than the '03, with a lingering dry signature.
AGEING? Yes, one to four years (plus).
FOOD IDEAS: Fish with a classical buttery sauce; lobster.
CAMPBELL MATTINSON, WINEFRONT MONTHLY
February 2006
This is a silky, sexy, seductive little number, laced with hazelnut and cedar and grapefruit-splashed peach, the persistence excellent and the texture satiny, and right. It's a wine you feel like stroking. A wine that smells and tastes gorgeous. Turns out it was made by Rick Kinzbrunner at Giaconda. And it's smack-bang in the middle of the quality groove. Drink 2007-2011. 94 points.
