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News
Kylie strikes Gold with Aussie Chardonnay
Pop star Kylie Minogue has gained a Gold medal for her first Australian wine – a Chardonnay from Margaret River.
Made by Howard Park’s chief winemaker Janice McDonald, the Chardonnay is due to launch in March this year and represents the first Australian wine in the Kylie Minogue range, which comprises a French white, red and two rosés, including a Côte de Provence.
The Kylie Chardonnay was entered into 2020’s Global Chardonnay Masters where it was sampled ‘blind’ by the judges in December alongside more than 200 other wines.
The judges – who were myself, David Round MW and Patricia Stefanowicz MW had no idea of the source region, country, or producer, but we liked what we tasted, and awarded it a Gold medal, declaring the wine very good, especially within its retail price category, which was £20-£30.
Such ‘blind’, independent assessment is a strong endorsement for the celebrity-backed wine, which will hit the market in a couple of months.
My own note on the wine, which comes from the relatively cool 2019 vintage in Western Australia’s Margaret River, can be read below.
A classic, cooler-climate, medium-weight, and youthful New World Chardonnay with layers of fruit flavours from fresh peach, to ripe pear and citrus zest, with lingering background characters of buttercream and toast, along with a bright, crisp apple finish. Very good.
Score: 92 points
About the wine
- Producer: Howard Park
- Region: Margaret River
- Country: Australia
- Grape variety: Chardonnay
- ABV: 13.5%
- Vintage: 2019
- Closure: Screwcap
- Approx. retail price: £20
- Medal: Gold – The Global Chardonnay Masters 2020
- Winemaking: All batches are handpicked and cooled overnight in vented crates, hand sorted, and then whole bunch pressed to extract only the free run juice. Maturation took place in 600l French oak barrels.
- Retailer: The wine will be released in March, although it will available for pre-ordering soon from kylieminoguewines.com
Read more
EXCLUSIVE: KYLIE EXPANDS RANGE WITH TWO PREMIUM AUSTRALIAN WINES
As an ex wine merchant and avid Kylie fan this is great news. I’d be interested to understand to what extent Kylie is involved or whether she simply ‘endorses’ the label? I worked with Cliff Richard with his wine from Portugal and he was pointing out to me to the difference (not in a critical way) between ‘celebrity’ wines that were merely wines from producers who got celebrities to put their name on the label, and those such as his. Cliff has been heavily involved financially as a partner in the winery, as well as in tasting blends, attending marketing and commercial meetings etc.
Either way I look forward to tasting this one and raising a glass to Kylie!