Increasingly, I am allowing Aussie Chardonnays a little more time on opening, time to loosen up, to release some inbuilt tension and open to a full reveal. Top Aussie Chardonnays like Tiers call for it. Try and make it a rule and see if it works for you. With time opened, there is a growing warmth to the ’25 Tiers, it’s still quite taut, but it opens up nicely with scents of dusty honeysuckle, nectarine, white peach, citrus, quince and nuts. It’s a complex, fine textured Adelaide Hills Chardonnay off 44-year-old vines which saw fermentation in French oak barriques (one third new) and was aged on full lees. It’s also from a warm vintage, but don’t expect a huge effect on acidity – it’s as brisk as they come. Brings an inviting thread of biscuits, grilled nuts, clotted cream, quince, melon and citrus to the palate alongside a grapefruit pithiness and green apple crunchiness. Leaves a concentrated, well composed impression in its youth which will come further into bloom with time. It’s very much early days for this wine.
