2010 Vintage
Max Allen, The Weekend Australian 4-5 February 2012
2010 Wedgetail Estate Chardonnay, Yarra Valley.
“Guy’s 2010 estate grown chardonnay, is a lovely, rich, textural, complex white wine that I would be happy to drink.
Ben Thomas, The Weekly Review 5 April, 2012
From a single vineyard just near St Andrews in the Yarra Valley, this chardonnay is an excercise in balance and structure. It has a complex bouquet of nectarine, cantaloupe, honey spread on toast and a touch of tropical fruit. There’s excellent tension and balance between the wine’s concentrated flavours of lemon, stonefruit, spice, well-handled French oak and its zippy, grapefruit-flavoured acidity.
2009 Vintage
Gourmet Traveller Wine – August/September 2011
2009 Wedgetail Estate Chardonnay, Yarra Valley.
100 Top New Releases – Australian Whites – Number 94 – 5 Stars
A complex, worked style of chardonnay from winemaker Guy Lamothe. Rich, ripe fruit, oak and lees-derived complexities make up its bouquet. This is a lovely pillowy, round, almost volumptuous wine. It’s also fresh and alive, with great drinkability.
www.winefront.com.au 31 January 2011
Single Vineyard Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2009, by Gary Walsh
Australian Chardonnay – if it’s not from WA, then I like it next best from the Yarra Valley…as a wild generalisation. It has immediate appeal and holds your attention. Flinty with some nectarine richness, almost hinting at a tropical holiday, but coming back to its senses with a refreshing cocktail of tangy citrus. There’s a subtle honey cream offsetting a tight spine of acidity and the finish pulls up crisp, flinty and spicy. Lots to love here. They’re making fine balanced Chardonnay at Wedgetail. Rated : 94 Points Tasted : Jan11 Alcohol : 13% Price : $36 Closure : Screwcap Drink : 2011 – 2016
2008 Vintage
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2011
Single Vineyard Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2008
Bright pale green-straw; fine and elegant, with nectarine, white peach, citrus and mineral elements all intermingling, oak a junior partner. Screwcap 13% alc. Rating 94. To 2015
www.winefront.com.au 31 August 2009
2008 Wedgetail Estate Single Vineyard Chardonnay, by Gary Walsh
Now there’s a trend amongst winemakers these days to cut their Chardonnay right back to the bone, especially in the Yarra Valley, but if I want that style I’ll buy Chablis or Riesling or some other dry white. Here’s a wine that plays to the strengths of both the Yarra Valley and Chardonnay. Hooray for that!
Creamy cashew nut, citrus, nectarine and some savoury winemaker inputs lead you gently into a medium bodied palate that has heaps of flavour and weight, but no heaviness. It’s creamy with hints of butterscotch, offers a pleasing sort of minerality, clean tight acidity and a lovely long grapefruit accented finish. A beautiful seamless wine that’s perfectly put together. Rated : 94 Points
2006 Vintage
Gourmet Traveller Wine June/July 2008
2006 Wedgetail Estate Single Vineyard Chardonnay, Yarra Valley
Tropical and stone-fruit aromas mingle with butterscotch and nutty aromas in the complex bouquet of this Yarra chardonnay. The palate is soft, round and rich in jucy fruit. Oak flavours are seamlessly woven into it. 4 Stars
Winorama 27th March 2008
Wedgetail Estate Chardonnay 2006 – Tasting Notes and Australia and Yarra Valley and variety and white and Chardonnay – Gary Walsh.
At this rate it won’t be too long before the Yarra Valley takes poll position as the most reviewed region on winorama. Well that’s fine by me too because I like it alot, and there’s lots more Yarra Valley action to come. Quite savoury and refined with aromas of fig, creamy cashew, spice and subjued citrus and peach fruit. On the palate flinty and dry with sour edged fruit flavours of green pear and citrus, yeast lees and spiced nuts. Soft, light creamy with a little oxidative, but shot through with minerally acidity, the overall impression is textural and sophisticated rather than fruity. Finishes dry and flinty with good length. And if it makes any sense I like this even moe than the score would indicate; it’s one of those wines you appreciate more with every sip. Rated: 92 points.
The Weekend Australian Magazine 15-16 March 2008
Wine by Max Allen
White from the Hills
2006 Wedgetail Estate Chardonnay
The more I taste the wines from this Yarra Valley hillside vineyard, the more I’m convinced that the best – from the steepest, coldest, south-facing block – is this superbly complex, grilled nut and peach fuzz-textured chardonnay.
2005 Vintage
Australian Gourmet Pages Wine Notes – May 2007
Wine Notes by Franz Scheurer
Wedgetail Estate Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2005
This single vineyard Chardonnay hails from the Yarra Valley. The grapes are grown on a steep southerly slope with the result that the wine features lots of typically cool climate citrus aromas. On the palate it displays a creamy, mouth-filling texture with lots of lime, roasted nut and grape-fruit flavours, ending with a clean, acidic finish which just begs for another glass of the same. This is a terific food wine and it jumps to life when paired with a buttery emulsion sauce. Utterly delightful!
Paul Ippolito Talks Wine: Wines of the Week – 17th July 2007
Wedgetail Estate Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2005
This Yarra Valley boutique winery knocks out pretty respectable wines under Guy Lamothe. This Chardonnay has quite an upfront nose full of stone fruit characters, surprisingly, so for such a cool climate wine. Some citrus lemon and grapefruit nuances also follow. Barrel fermented – buttery and creamy rich on the finish, this is a real Chardonnay with plenty of substance for those seeking gravitas and also finesse in their Chardonnay. Good nutty features, tangy acidity and well melded oak, together to make a fulsome wine. Try this with lasagna. Drink now to 2010. About $40 90/100 (very good)
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2008
2005 Single Vineyard Yarra Valley Chardonnay
A complex bouquet and palate; figgy/creamy/nutty characters point to oak, when infact little used; good mouthfeel. Screwcap. 14% alc. Rating 91 to 2010.
2004 Vintage
Australian Gourmet Traveller – Oct/Nov 2006
“By Popular Demand” – Chardonnay article
2004 Wedgetail estate Chardonnay
Made from fruit harvested from a steep south facing slope in the Yarra Valley, Guy Lamothe’s 2004 Wedgetail estate (Chardonnay) $28 has precision and intensity. A restrained, cooler climate style, it makes a distinctly quartz-like impression and offers lemon oil, spice and restrained oak. On the palate is custard-apple and nectarine – even and delicious – the edgy, cool fruits softened with gentle winemaking influence, though the drive and purity of the palate is not compromised. Ryan liked the complexity, Forestall bathed the wine in lots of positive comments and, like Bourne, found it “very primary”.
Tasters: Peter Bourne, Nick Ryan, Peter Forestall, Nick Stock.
The Canberra Times – Sep. 20th 2006
By Fergus McGhie
Wedgetail Estate 2004 Single Vineyard Chardonnay, Yarra Valley $36
“Is Chardonnay the Yarra Valley’s best grape variety? At a recent tasting of Yarra Valley wines, my top two wines were chardonnay. One was Wedgetail. This has all the hallmarks of quality Chardonnay. Fine acid, powerful but understated fruit flavours and a delicious lick of smoky toasted oak lending a savoury complexity only tasted in the best examples. A small producer, Wedgetail is worth seeking out.”
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2007
2004 Single Vineyard Chardonnay
Rich, ripe melon, stone fruit and fig, the oak sotto voce, if at all; starting to show bottle development and more flovour than finesse. Cork. 14 alc. Rating 90. Drink 2010. $32
2003 Vintage
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2006
2003 Wedgetail Chardonnay
Developed yellow; super-rich, ripe and concentrated; sweet yellow peach has absorbed the oak. Rapid development. Cork. Rating 90. Drink 2008.
2002 Vintage
The Age Newspaper – April 15th 2006
By Bob Hart
2002 Wedgetail Chardonnay
“The wine with which we accompanied our meals was an intense 2002 Wedgetail Chardonnay from the Yarra Valley, a mountain of flavour for $55 a bottle.”
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2005
2002 Wedgetail Chardonnay
Long, intense, fruit-driven palate; strong citrussy overtones to stone fruit and melon; subtle oak. Rating 94. Drink 2010.
2001 Vintage
MX Lifestyle – May 28 2004
2001 Wedgetail Chardonnay
This chardonnay by Yarra Valley winemaker Guy Lamothe is a triumph. Medium yell-green in colour, it has a complex fruit-driven palate that lingers, with delightful citrus and stone fruit aromas, with a hint of spice. It’s reminiscent of a long, mild summer. RRP$33
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2004
2001 Wedgetail Chardonnay
Medium yellow-green; the moderately complex palate has a complex blend of tangy grapefruit/stone fruit aromas, the palate fruit-driven with good length and intensity; subtle barrel-ferment/casew characters add another dimension. Rating 92. Drink NOW. 2007 Best Vintages ’01. Drink with sweetbreads.
City News – August 31st 2001
By Peter Dietsch
“Wedgetail Estate is, in many respects, the most interesting of all the recent arrivals on the Yarra scene. It is a very small operation on the north-western edge of the Valley proper, and if you want the wines you will have to contact the winery to find out where you can get them.
They are made by Guy Lamothe, and they are marketed by his partner, Dena Ashbolt. Guy and Dena established their vineyard in 1994, and, right from the start, they embraced the philosophy of doing everything themselves.
Lamothe is a fascinating character, with a French-Canadian background, and his accent can change from lyrical French to resonant Canadian in the middle of a sentence. His wines have a fascinating character too, and they reflect his absolute determination to create something entirely distinctive from a unique vineyard site.
His current releases are all impeccably crafted, with the Single Vineyard Chardonnay and the Single Vineyard Pinot Noir being particularly impressive. A 2000 Reserve Pinot Noir was lasted last year, in a completely different context, and it immediately proclaimed itself to be in the very top bracket of Australian Pinots.”
1999 Vintage
Yarra Valley Wine Guide 1999
By Max Allen
1999 Wedgetail Chardonnay
“The 1999 Chardonnay tasted out of various barrels was extremly impressive, with exceptional viscosity, length and character. Barring tragedy twixt barrel and bottle, when it’s released it should be one to watch out for. The red wines from the 1997 vintage have been bottled and released and are also very good (or were, before they sold out).”
