Tyson Stelzer 93 points!
Huon Hooke 95 points!
The run of very good to excellent vintage for chardonnay in Margaret River almost defies belief: the years from 2004 to 2010 have certainly produced outstanding chardonnays for Pierro. While each vintages produces a unique wine, the quality has been uniformly high. The 2009 vintage saw cool, mild weather with no extremes of heat, decent rains at the right times, and moderate crops given time to ripen slowly. Some felt had been the West's best ever white wine vintage.
For the team at Pierro, attention to detail in the vineyard is the key to the success of the Chardonnay. It is sourced from a single site, the north-facing estate vineyard on the south bank of the Willyabrup Brook which flows down its namesake valley to the sea. Mike Peterkin believes that this natural watercourse provides a nourishing life-source for the vineyard. The mature vines (24 to 29 years old in 2009) are unirrigated and come from higher density plantings (4,000 to 5,500 vines per hectare) than are usually found in Australia.
There is much about the winemaking process that is traditional at Pierro: the wine is barrel fermented in French barriques; a hundred per cent goes through the malolactic fermentation and has regular lees stirring (battonage) during its 12 month oak maturation. Mike Peterkin remains a strong supporter of the role that the malolactic fermentation can play in improving the flavour and length of palate of the Chardonnay while battonage gives a seamless character and creamier texture to the wine.
The new Pierro winery was completed a decade ago and so the changes that this made possible have become an integral part of the winemaking process. Mike Peterkin believes that three things have improved the aging potential of the Chardonnay: its phenolic content has been lowered by whole bunch pressing and the reduction in temperature of each batch of grapes and this gives more delicacy and length to the wine; paying greater attention to the levels of dissolved oxygen and sulphur dioxide during processing; and the use of screwcaps which offer better protection from oxidation.
There's purity about the 2009 Pierro Chardonnay that sets it apart in the first flush of youth: intense ripe, juicy white peach and nectarine flavours that are deep, long and primal. As well as this, there's a delicacy and finesse that will remain part of its makeup, some hints of cedary oak that will blow away and a smooth viscosity that will become softer and creamier " all adding to the satisfying complexity that age brings. For now, there's a tangy, zesty, vibrance in the mid-palate and a refreshing, cleansing acidity that enables the wine to finish crisp and dry. Hard to resist.
Pierro Wines
Tyson Stelzer 93 points! "A ripe and earlier drinking Pierro with white peach, pineapple and tropical fruits that linger long on a palate of chunky cashew nut oak."
Tyson Stelzer, WBM October 2011
Huon Hooke 95 points! "Light-medium yellow with green tints, indicating freshness. A very youthful, vital, clean and zesty chardonnay that leaps out of the glass. The palate is energetic and driving, bright and long. An outstanding wine that will age superbly."
Huon Hooke, GT Wine Dec/Jan 2012
Country:
Australia
Region:
WA- Margaret River
Variety:
Wine White - Chardonnay
Size:
750mL
