The great thing about wine is its ability to be shared with many. How often would you sit around the house and drink a bottle of wine on your own? Does it taste better when you are in the company of friends, colleagues or family? I’d certainly like to think so.
I vividly remember my life changing wine – 2002 Chardonnay from Pierro, Margaret River. I can tell you exactly where I was, when it happened and why this golden elixir made me feel so serene inside.
It was August 2006 (wow - 10 years ago!) and I had just returned to Australia having lived in the UK for over two years on average Australian wine stocked in my local Tesco (that was a challenging few years and no amount of trips to Callais for French wine made it right!). I sat down to dinner at Fraser's Restaurant and was keen to put a Chardonnay with my scollop entree. I ‘splashed out’ (remember I was in my 20s and a wine over $70 was an investment) and having been told of Pierro only the week earlier, the 2002 was chosen. It was:
- Golden straw in colour.
- A huge mouthful of chardonnay with big buttery and nutty characters from its time on oak.
- A rich stone fruit base that shines alongside the MLF characters.
- Seriously long-flavoured and smooth – there is nothing shy about this wine.
Having drunk this wine with four years of age I could tell from the get go it still needed some serious cellaring to do it justice.
But that was it. I was hooked. And I've continued to invest in the Pierro Chardonnay ever since...
- SM xx