Purple Palate

Stella Bella has come to rank among the few truly exceptional producers of grandiose Margaret River Chardonnay. At its price point, however, it continues to stand alone. Last year's vintage won Best Chardonnay at London's International Wine and Spirits Competition, and swept James Halliday off his feet, attaining a score of 96 points. The 2009 is fractionally more generous in its youth, but retains that characteristically total acidity, as well as a cloak of grainy, toasted French oak that seems almost edible. It's complex, dewy green apple palate combines viscous richness with brisk minerality, culminating in a perplexing sense of both power and weightlessness. Halliday, again, has blushed. -NT