2021 Chardonnay Adelaide Hills Piccadilly

The Piccadilly Valley is a high point in the Adelaide Hills—literally: it's 450-600 meters above sea level—and is favored for producing powerful, precise Chardonnays. Grosset's Chardonnay style is polished and seamless, not unlike the Rieslings that they are so famous for. 2021 was a glorious growing season in Adelaide Hills (and many other places around South Australia, actually), and the precision and coolness that typified the year is evident in the glass of this 2021 Piccadilly Chardonnay. With oatmeal, crushed almond, green apple skin, white peach, a hint of nectarine and even field mushroom, this is fine and a little bit exotic, with lemongrass and fennel flower to close. The clash of phenolics and alcohol through the finish are still a little raw, but in time this intersection will smooth out and the wine will reach its silky potential.