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The 19 Crimes Martha’s Chard 2020 is a California Chardonnay from the Australian wine label 19 Crimes. The 19 Crimes referenced in the brand name are the number of offenses that would get a criminal in Great Britain deported to the Australian penal colony. The label embraces Australia’s heritage with a photo and a short history of some of the original deportees.
19 Crimes has updated its outlaw image with Snoop Dogg wines. Snoop did some time early on before The Chronic shot him to the Big Time. In keeping with the jailbird motif they now have a Martha Stewart Chardonnay, she did three months for insider trading.
The 19 Crimes wines showcased Australian grapes in the past but the Snoop and Martha wines are sourced from vineyards in California. I thought the Snoop Dogg wines were solid and enjoyable value-priced wines and a figure Martha knows what the Chardonnay crowd likes.
Treasury Wine Estates owns the 19 Crimes brand, they have a large wine brand portfolio, their brands include Penfolds, BV, and Beringer. They have extensive, quality California vineyard holdings, so the 19 Crimes Martha’s Chard 2020 should be a very drinkable Chardonnay.
The 19 Crimes website does not mention much on the making of this Chard, mostly talk about icons and innovators. I did find a few wine review tasting notes that mention citrus, oak spice, creamy caramel, and butter. It seems that this is a Chardonnay with a healthy dose of oak barrel influence. Since the website does not tell the story of the 19 Crimes Martha’s Chard 2020 we will have to learn everything from the tasting portion. The alcohol content is 13.8%.
The 19 Crimes Martha’s Chard 2020 Tasting Notes
The color is a pale wheat yellow. The nose is lemon, apple, pear, honey, melon, pineapple, light spice, with a floral edge. The 19 Crimes Martha’s Chard 2020 a sleek, tasty Chardonnay with as much happening on the mid-palate as on the body of the wine.
This Chardonnay tastes like green apple, lemon, orange blossom honey, and butterscotch. The mid-palate adds peach mixed with lime, melon, a salty/nutty “on-lees” sensation, and nectarine and guava. The acidity gives this Chardonnay excellent length, the flavors roll on and on.
The Summary
- The 19 Crimes Martha’s Chard 2020 tastes great, it has excellent complexity for a wine in this price class.
- 19 Crimes wine have been on a roll lately, I have seen several of their wines receive 90+ points from respected wine publications and I would not be surprised if this Chardonnay also scored high.
