Australian Chardonnay: is the pendulum at rest?

To lure MWs to the Institute’s Annual General Meeting, and to reward those who have travelled from afar to attend, the Institute of Masters of Wine puts on a focused tasting on the morning of the meeting. This year the theme was ‘top Australian Chardonnay’ and the selection shown in September was designed to illuminate the ‘hot topic’ summarised by the organisers as ‘Has the search for restraint led to market-unfriendly austerity? Or has the reaction against the bold, ripe styles of the 1990s led to generally greater complexity, terroir expression and ageability?’ 

As you will see from the 37...