Vasse Felix Adams Road Chardonnay 2005

Vasse Felix makes a unique style of Australian Chardonnay. The 2005 Vasse Felix Adams Road Chardonnay blends all the buttery, fruit driven characteristics of New World Chardonnay with the pure, dry minerality of French Chablis – Burgundy's driest and most elegant Chardonnay. While butter, apple, and hints of tropical fruit dominate the nose of the 2005Adams Road Chardonnay, the flavor profile of this wine remains more reminiscent of Chablis, where the soil and climate produce a very sleek, dry white wine with the unmistakable savor of lemon oil, and mineral. And like French Chablis, a little aeration (15-20 minutes) of the Vasse Felix is beneficial, as it tends to bring out the subtlety and nuance of flavor within this very bright, attractive wine. And given this estate's style and track record for producing fairly long-lived wines, including this Chardonnay, we believe the 2005 Vasse Felix Adams Road Chardonnay will continue to develop in bottle until its third birthday and, perhaps, beyond, so no need to rush this youthful rendition along. For optimal enjoyment, we suggest chilling the 2005 Vasse Felix Adams Road Chardonnay to between 40°- 45° F.

Given the distinctive Chablis like style of the 2005 Vasse Felix Adams Road Chardonnay and Western Australia's enviable position astride the Indian Ocean, the folks at Vasse Felix most certainly had seafood in mind when they made this wine. We second their motion. Seafood is a natural companion to the Adams Road Chardonnay, either as an appetizer or as a main course. Shellfish, especially oysters, either on the half shell, fried or sautéed, constitute a classic match-up with this Chardonnay that will please any oyster aficionado. Sautéed scallops in white wine and herb butter; steamed lobster, served with drawn butter; crab cakes, prepared with an herb and saffron suffusion; and seafood stew, with mussels, clams and local fish also provide excellent partnerships with this classically wrought Chardonnay. Calamari, freshly sautéed in a savory sauce, provides another fine marriage. A good party offers another splendid accompaniment to this thirst quenching Chardonnay – just pop a bottle, turn up the music, and dance the night away as this the clear, clean, thirst quenching Chardonnay passes down your gullet. Enjoy!

Vasse Felix is the oldest commercial vineyard and winery in Western Australia. Many critics also consider it to be the finest winery in the state. It produces award winning Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay along with a host of other charming wines. Thanks to astute winemaking and an ideal terroir, Vasse Felix consistently fashions compelling wines, which have served to put Western Australia on the viticultural map and raise the eyebrows of the world's true connoisseurs. At the same time, Vasse Felix has inspired others in Australia's largest state to follow suit. The name Vasse Felix is derived from the Latin word for luck (Felix) and the name of an early 19th century French sailor (Vasse) who died while exploring the captivating coast of Western Australia we now know as the Margaret River. At first, the name may seem quite ironic, but to anyone who has ever caught a glimpse of this eye-popping place, pure good fortune and a perpetually smiling face are no exaggerations when speaking of this enchanted land. Therefore, to die in such a place is far more fortunate than never to have seen it. Vasse Felix lies tucked among the folds of low hills of the Margaret River, a green temperate corner of Western Australia that sits beside the sea. Here the Margaret River cuts through wooded hills and steep ridges carpeted with wild flowers, before sighing almost inaudibly into the gleaming Indian Ocean. Crystalline waters and high rolling surf offer Australia's finest surfing as well as its most compelling seascapes. These very same waters, along with steady ocean breezes, a unique soil, and a Mediterranean climate also make Margaret River one of the finest natural wine producing areas on earth and a great place to peacefully whittle away the time.