2009 Shaw + Smith M3 Chardonnay Reviews
The Wine Advocate #192 December 2010
Lisa Perrotti-Brown
91 + Points
The fruit for the 2009 M3 Chardonnay was pre-chilled and pressed cold straight to barrel (French barriques, 20% new) with no setting. It underwent 90% natural ferment and 50% malo-lactic. It seems youthfully mute at the moment with subtle notes of lemon curd, oatmeal, peach blossom, fresh apricot and honey-nut plus a whiff of cedar. Medium-bodied, the palate has a great deal of tension with crisp acid, a satiny texture and a long finish. Give it another 6-12 months in bottle and drink it through 2015.
Winewise Vol 27 Number 2 June 2011
Outstanding
This wine continues a highly successful line. Subtle cashew barrel-ferment characters on the nose with some spicy oak. The palate is finely structured, with a lovely creamy texture and long flavours, beautifully balanced by lingering, vibrant acidity.
Wine Spectator June 2011
Harvey Steiman
92 Points
A distinctly spicy white, with nutmeg and clove overtones to the pear and grapefruit flavours, weaving in walnut and filbert notes as the finish lingers impressively. Drink now through 2020
Wine Companion Newsletter 1st June 2011
James Halliday
96 Points
Pale but bright straw-green; the bouquest has some fragrant blossom notes that merge into the multilayered palate with its display of white peach, nectarine and fig, then distinctly creamy cashew notes before what can only be described as seductive acidity on the finish.
The Mottled Oyster 21st February 2011
Jane Skilton MW
2009 Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay is a wine that benefits from a great deal of care and attention. Hand picked, whole bunch pressed and then fermented in barrel using wild yeasts it spends time on lees before undergoing a partial malolactic. Complex and savoury, some white nectarine and ripe apple on the nose with a touch of hazelnut, there is an attractive touch of smokey touch of reduction. The palate is tight and takes a little time to open up, but when it does there is a lovely balance of restrained fruit and mineral acidity with the light touch of oak coming through again. A very smart wine and one that I’d be happy to cellar for a couple of years.
The Wine Gang Newsletter October 2010
92 Points
Even better defined and more focused than the impressive 2008 vintage, the 2009 is more polished and stylish on the nose, showing citrusy fruit with a textured, rich creamy character underscored by a Burgundian-style complexity and subtle nutty oak notes and a savoury, complex finish.
Weekend Australian 13th November 2010
96 Points
Over $20 Whites
Decanter March 2011
Australian Chardonnay
17.67 points
Classy, perfumed nose of fruit salad, lemon and smoke. Serious winemaking – stylish. Seductive, peachy opulence pinned by pineapple acidity and a long finish.
Matthew Jukes Top 100 May 2011
Shaw & Smith’s robust M3 shows another mood to this hugely important variety in Australia and it manages to seem forward and juicy already. Finer and more oak-balanced than ever before this is a succulent style and it’s the sort of wine that you crave in posh restaurants so that you don’t have to spend a fortune on dreary, over-price white Burgundy!
Raymond Chan February 2011
19/20
Brilliant, limpid, pale-edged straw yellow in colour, this has a very fine, but intense bouquet of mealy, citrus fruit, subtly lifted with floral and nutty oak notes. On palate, this possesses a most refined and elegant structure with concentrated and tightly bound flavours of mealy citrus and white stonefruits, with lovely vanilla and nutty barrel-ferment elements. At 13.5% alc., there is an understated power that will match the complex, savoury flavours that promise to unfold. The wine has excellent crisp acidity balancing the fine textures and a long, sustained, nutty finish. Drink with grilled firm fleshed-seafood, poultry and pork dishes over the next 4-6 years. Whole bunch pressed fruit, indigenous yeast fermented and matured in French oak. Given lees contact with partial malo conversion. This wine sits comfortably with any aspirational Chardonnay from around the world.
Manly Daily 4th February 2011
Rick Allen
This is a benchmark Adelaide Hills chardonnay and, for mine, it has to be up with their finest, which is no small feat. It’s crisp and taut, with years ahead of it, but for now you’re getting a tightly wound palate of apricot, melons and nuts. It’s medium-bodied but has wonderful length and a fine, silky texture. First class. Will age beautifully too, if you’re the patient type.
Australian Wine Showcase Magazine December 2010
Stuart Barrie
This has all the white nectarine, sea shell and stone fruits we come to expect from this wine. Terrific, linear acidity is the key to the real power and length of flavour which comes through and whilst it may take a few months to settle down there is no doubt that this will be one of the more refined Shaw and Smith examples.
Eat&Drink.com.au February 2011
Christopher Hayes
Since the first release with the 2000 vintage, Shaw + Smith’s M3 chardonnay has been a leader in developing a refined Australian chardonnay style, vintage permitting. Over the decade this has lead away from, and now back to, a very Burgundian (even southern Meursault in 2009) style of chardonnay: white stone fruit, nutty oak and lees, and very restrained creaminess wrapped around a core of steely minerality, with zesty acidity. It’s just coming together now and will gain further complexity over the next few years; but its dangerously easy to enjoy now.