Shaw + Smith began over a long lunch in 1989 when cousins Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith decided to realise a long-held dream to make wine together. Their vision remains to make exciting, refined wines, exclusively from the Adelaide Hills, that rank among Australia’s best. The wines are made from a number of sites throughout the Adelaide Hills. They specialise in grape varieties suited to the cooler climate, namely Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz.
The 2021 Lenswood Vineyard Chardonnay is creamy and restrained. It's a wholly classy affair layered with chalky phenolics, salted peach, lashings of white miso green apples, leafy things (bay and sage) and loads of salted crushed nuts. Elegant to the end, and totally streamlined, all elements are in harmony. It's composed of a combination of Bernard clones 95 and 76 and planted at the Lenswood site at an elevation of 500 meters. It's a good-looking site—lush, healthy, gorgeous. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
95/100 pts Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
