That becomes a significant factor with that '99 Chardonnay, where the cork closure means it's probably better lying on its side in the rack than sitting on its bum in the fridge. Most of those 'better bottles' happen to have cork seals, and the available space at the top of the cork closure section doesn't take standard bottle shapes. Stickies, halves and long narrow rieslings, yes, but not your typical chardonnay bottle that’s a bit wider than most.
Fourth, there's the question of writing, or rather a disinclination to spend a lot of time on wine writing when I'm immersed in a couple of aspects of Hughesy's life and times that I'm trying to bundle up nicely so I can move on to something else. Still, by late May I'd progressed to the point where I had the 2009 Carlyle Chardonnay Marsanne in the fridge and something I thought would suit on the menu, so I was able to make a belated start on the Pfeiffer box.
I'd really enjoyed the initial 2008, to the extent of lining up to reorder, but while the '09 was quite acceptable, I don't think I'll be following up with a reorder this time around. Part of the difference may well be down to the extreme conditions that applied in Victoria around the '09 vintage, and I'll be interested to see how things shape up over future vintages.
According to the newsletter, the '08 was a result of looking at a batch of Chardonnay, thinking it needed a bit of something and seeing if the Marsanne might be the something in question, which proved to be the case. At the time I described it as:
Nice clean pale colour, aromatic nose (and you can definitely pick the marsanne) and a refreshing wine that's very easy drinking to the point that the empty was removed around the time that dinner hit the table.
The '09 didn't, I thought, work quite as well.
While you can still pick out the varietal characteristics, the honeysuckle notes of the Marsanne didn’t seem quite as pronounced this time around. Part of that may be down to vintage variation, but I suspect where the '08 was an attempt to tackle a perceived problem, this time around it may have been a case of matching the formula that worked last time rather than approaching a particular issue with a particular batch from a particular vintage. While it's still a reasonably attractive unoaked white it didn't make me sit up and take notice the same way the '08 did. Reorder? Probably not, though we'll have to wait and see what else is in the box.
There's a slightly different issue involved with the 2008 Pfeiffer Carlyle Chardonnay. With two bottles in the pack I went for one to accompany a new favourite chicken breast and enjoyed the wine so much that when I repeated the dish (told you it's a favourite) I repeated the wine match, figuring that a reorder would be a relatively straightforward exercise.
But there's the rub - it isn't. A fevered search of the standard section of Pfeiffer website failed to produce a sighting of 2008 Carlyle Chardonnay. Pity, because I really liked the wine. It's one of the new-style Aussie Chardonnays which isn't exactly Hughesy's preferred option, but as a very fine expression of the style, with some buttery notes lurking in the background under the peaches and melons at the forefront, it's a very enjoyable food wine. Very nice indeed.
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