Before I even start talking about this wine, I would like to offer some advice: Always read the label. Ok, read on.

Yabby Lake doesn’t sound like the greatest place, yabby rhymes with shabby. However, this lake is on the Mornington Penninsula which sounds like a lovely place to enjoy a cup of coffee out on your porch, if you do that sort of thing. This Yabby Lake Chardonnay was a pretty bright yellow in the glass. It had a pleasant nose that was fruity, smelling of apples as well as vanilla.


But, I did not read the label. It states that this wine is aged for 10 months in oak. One third in new oak, one third in year old oak and the remaining third in two year old oak. Would you like some oak with your oak? Something I learned long ago is that I do not, repeat do not, like my chardonnay over-oaked. In fact, I prefer it naked (or least wearing next to nothing).

Since I did not read the label, I was not expecting so much oak flavor. It had some nice acid in the background and the vanilla taste was there as it was in the nose. I tried so hard to get past the oak and search out the fruit. All I got was perhaps a touch of pear, but with each sip it's hard not to simply feel like I’m licking the inside of an oak wine barrel. I’m instantly taken back to earlier this month, while tasting at Woodside Vineyards, when I had the opportunity to stick my nose into a brand new barrel made of French oak. It smelled fabulous. But I had no desire to lick it.

All this being the case, this wine is not going down the drain, and not only because it was $25. Its not bad and I don’t hate it. It is a good wine, just has more oak than I prefer. As I learned at last month’s wine club, the chardonnay tasting, many people enjoy oak in this amount so I don’t think its even over-oaked. This wine has taught me to read the labels of chardonnay. Closely. And to enjoy the rest of this bottle with a hunk of strong cheese.

The Score: ★ ★