It never got dull enough for me...

As close to Burgundy as I the Jury gets....


Every good boy deserves fudge, except I don't have any and besides, it's bad for your teeth.

Sometimes though, you get what you need, not what you want, and last weekend I needed something. Illicit drugs and call-girls were strictly off limits so I attempted a rare raid on the cellar, forgetting that I'd hidden the keys for my own safety. I quickly went to retrieve a tyre iron from the car before realising that as well as forgetting where the keys were, I'd also forgotten to lock the cellar in the first place. The Lord moves in mysterious ways. Oh yes.

My cellar is a dusty, barren old space that has seen less action recently than Michael Jackson. However, there's a couple of treats in there, one of them being the Toolangi Reserve Chardonnay 2004. This blog has long been fans of Toolangi, and their entry level chardonnay at around $22 is stunning. Expectations were high for the Reserve.

Now at this point, if I were a real wine critic, and this was a real wine review, I'd use the word 'Burgundian'. I think that we knows what that means; it means that the critic is suggesting that the wine is like those from Burgundy, which I'm lead to believe is in France. Wrong. What he/she is actually saying is 'I'm a pretentious lizard who knows only the rich and evil drink Montrachet, and you can only dream about it'

Ho ho. I'm just kidding, I love wine critics, really. Anyway, I won't say that the Toolangi is
Burgundian; instead I'll say that it's a superbly made Australian Chardonnay from the Yarra Valley, orchastrated by Rick Kinzbrugger at Giaconda. Rick is obviously a man who knows what malolactic fermentation is and, believe me, he's not afraid to use it. The Toolangi has seen 100% secondary fermentation, with rich butter and oak all evident. However, its tight with a lovely weight and mouthfeel and perfectly judged acidity. There's also lots of complex stone and citrus fruit that follows through to the finish and overall, it's delicious and one of the best Australian chardonnay's I've tasted. Big call, I know but I'm standing by this one. It may cost $70 or so, but it's worth every cent.

Burgundy, who needs it? Leave it as a colour.

That's it, be seeing you.