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Mount Mary Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2006 Elegant, supple and shapely, with fresh flavours of white peach, melon and citrus backed by nutty, creamy and vanilla-like undertones, it’s long, taut and vibrant, with a refreshing finish of tightly integrated and lightly mineral acids. There’s a hint of toast and butter beneath its bouquet, while beneath its juicy palate lies a fine chalkiness. It becomes more powdery and austere, with lingering fruit and faint cashew-like undertones. A keeper. (Yarra Valley, 18.6/95 points, drink 2011-2014) Mount Mary is one of the great small wineries of Australia, established by Dr John Middleton (pictured) in 1972. Production is tiny. Mount Mary is noted for both its character and the high quality and individuality of its wines. The winery is open to pilgrims only two weekends a year. Since the first (commercial) vintage in 1976, Mount Mary has established itself as one of Australia's most highly regarded producers. Middleton is fanatical using 42 vintages of experience, analysis and feel to achieve optimum fruit quality. The Chardonnay is outside the Australian paradigm, displaying a waxy, lanolin-like complexity that is at once highly idiosyncratic yet appealing. It is one of the few Australian Chardonnays that really improves with age. Interestingly, it can look incredibly Burgundian. Andrew Calliard