Sixty Second Swirl by Brent Lello
Australia’s best Chardonnays are produced from fruit grown in cool climate regions. Chart-topping regions for Chardonnay include Margaret River, Yarra Valley, Tasmania and closer to home – Tumbarumba.
The Yass Valley region produces some ripping ‘Chardies’ too and one of the best I have come across in recent times is the subject of this week’s ‘swirl’ – the Pankhurst Wines Chardonnay 2018.
Located in the southern reaches of the Yass Valley in Wallaroo, Allan and Christine Pankhurst have confidently cracked the code for classic cool-climate Chardonnay.
This wine is a medium straw colour with bright gold flashes in the glass. A swirl reveals aromas of freshly cut and chargrilled white peach, ripe nectarine, melon and crushed cashew nut.
On the palate, it has a rich and fulfilling mouthfeel with stone fruit flavours and a hint of vanilla. The finish is long, lingering and satisfying.
We enjoyed our bottle with Thai yellow curry of chicken but would go superbly with a roasted chicken or any richly sauced chicken dish. Please note that this wine is not the current release but is still available at ‘Uncle Dans’. You can buy the current release (2019) for $25 online – I’m plenty sure it is just as good!
Photo at top – Christine and Allan with their dog Abbie ready to greet visitors at the cellar door.
Pankhurst Wines was established by Allan and Christine Pankhurst in 1986 with the first planting of Pinot Noir vines, and these vines continue to produce award-winning wines today. We produce high-quality wines with great cellaring capacity. We do this through expert viticultural and winemaking process knowledge, while at the same time ensuring environmentally friendly practices.
Pankhurst cellar door Ambassador Abbie meets Elvis
We pride ourselves on low impact viticultural management that benefits our property, its ecosystems and most importantly, our wines.
Allan & Christine enjoying a glass within the idyllic grounds at Pankhurst Wines.
Quality is the key in describing our approach to wines marketed under the Pankhurst label. We make wines only from fruit from our own vineyard. We aim to produce wines with good cellaring potential yet smooth and easy on the palate at an early age. We select our winemakers from around the Canberra region based on their specialities and we work with them during every stage of the process to ensure our wines remain true to our brand and reflect the true varietal characters.
We have planted quite a few new exciting grape varieties. Visitors to the cellar door can taste the lovely Italian varieties Arneis and Sangiovese and the Spanish variety Tempranillo.
Enjoy a cheese platter while trying our latest wines. Served alongside the beautiful scenery of the vines, and views of the Brindabella Ranges. The cheeses are from boutique makers on the NSW south coast and are available each weekend. Bookings are recommended.
Open for wine tastings & sales COVID-19 Safety Information: At our cellar door, we have measures in place to keep you safe and well. All tastings will be seated to ensure distancing guidelines are in place
Remember, you can order through the website, with free delivery across the Canberra region.
Cellar Door Taste our delicious wines and soak up the fabulous views. Our Cellar Door is open on weekends and public holidays 10am to 5pm for seated wine tastings. We recommend making bookings.
