Tuck’s Ridge Chardonnay – the lucky dip that paid off

As you all know by now I have a serious hoarding problem when it comes to my wine. So much so that around this time last year, I almost ruined most of our whites and sparklings! We had them in our wine fridge for safe keeping, and on a month off from drinking it decided to stop working. Well, not stop working, start heating. To over 25 degrees! This has to be the most expensive month of from drinking ever, as it cooked about half of our wines into vinegar. This means that when we open up a bottle from the old wine fridge we have about a 50/50 chance of it being ok. Luckily for us, the Tuck’s Ridge Chardonnay 2014 was a winner!

I mean don’t get me wrong, it is kind of exciting not knowing whether a wine is going to be good or not. It also has forced me to open many bottles that I was saving for a rainy day because well hey they could be bad anyway! But I would much prefer to have all my wines being delicious! I mean no one wants to drink vinegar really, we are here for good vino!

The Tuck’s Ridge Chardonnay was still fantastic

Luckily the Tuck’s Ridge Chardonnay 2014 was one of those magical bottles that appeared to survive the day our wine fridge turned into a furnace. I am glad it did because this wine was so damn delicious I would have been really disappointed. My partner would have been too! He is a lover of Chardonnay, and I distinctly remember us picking up this bottle. It was our first trip to the Mornington Peninsula, one of our favourite wine regions, and this was our second stop. My partner fell head over heels for this Chardonnay. It was by far his favourite of the day. So we bought a bottle and I’ve saved it for all this time.

Seriously this bottle of wine has been through a lot. I’m amazed it was still going! First, it survived me living in Melbourne, which is a feat of its own as I drank most of the wine I bought. Then it survived moving back up to Brisbane in a removalist truck, which I can imagine isn’t the best for wine. On top of this, it came out of the wine fridge furnace still going strong! What can’t this wine do?

Why I loved it

The secret to the deliciousness of the Tuck’s Ridge Chardonnay 2014 starts with the region. Mornington Peninsula is a prime location for Chardonnay in Australia because of its climate and soil. Add in that most of the wineries in the region are small batch producers with an eye for quality, and you’re bound to get delicious wine. Since we visited Tuck’s Ridge has changed hands, but I have no doubt that they are still producing fantastic wine. It is worth a visit if you’re in the area!

The Tuck’s Ridge Chardonnay 2014 is not as oaky as I thought it would be with its age. It definitely had the distinct oak of a Chardonnay, but it didn’t overpower the other flavours. The wine had a really nice citrus fruit flavour which cut through the butter of the Chardonnay really nicely. It makes this wine perfect for those who aren’t the biggest fans of Chardonnay because of the buttery richness. I am usually not the biggest fan of really buttery Chardonnay, so I found this one to be a good balance between the oak and acidity.

The flavours were smooth and also lingered which I quite liked. It meant you could enjoy the wine long after taking a sip.  Think a beautiful mix of toasty and fruity flavours, all wrapped up into a nice crispy wine. It’s fresh, warm and zippy all at the same time!

What to enjoy it with

The Tuck’s Ridge Chardonnay 2014 was something we enjoyed both before and during dinner on a Sunday night. Any excuse when it comes to us really, particularly when we are cracking open our old wines!

This wine would go perfectly with slightly richer dishes such as salmon, creamy pasta or even mild curries. You could also pair it with a risotto if you’re feeling like Italian! If you want to enjoy it with cheese however I would recommend a brie or camembert.

We actually paired this with a creamy porcini mushroom risotto with some brie on the top. I have to say this went perfectly with the wine!

The final word

The Tuck’s Ridge Chardonnay 2014 was a surprise and a delight. I knew it would be good, but I was worried it might have been ruined. I was delighted to find it was not only intact, but this wine is also really delicious! My only sadness comes from the fact that I cracked this open now and I have no other bottles left. If only I’d bought a few to keep on hand!

If you like Chardonnay but don’t want something too buttery, this wine is perfect for you. It has a good amount of age on it to deliver complex flavours, but the crisp acidity and fruit driven tastes really cut through the richness. This wine is absolutely delicious and perfect before, during or after dinner! Although I’m sad I have none left, I’m sure glad that I got to enjoy this wine!