External search
Google (images)
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Burghound
Wine-Searcher
Vintages
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Show more
From this producer
Show all wines
All tasting notes
|
| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2006 and 2009 (based on 105 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.5 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 31 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by tfesmgk on 11/9/2010 & rated 89 points: Big, oaky flavorful. Drink now, it's just past it's prime. (3605 views) | | | Tasted by williamswhine on 7/11/2010 & rated 88 points: This wine tastes alot like Conundrum-- tropical/melon on the nose, golden in color, creamy. Not your traditional chardonnay-- I suspect you'll either like it or think its average at best. I enjoyed it; especially on a hot day! (3625 views) | | | Tasted by Geo58 on 5/2/2009 & rated 89 points: Very good fruity and good finish (4205 views) | | | Tasted by gigabit on 12/24/2008 & rated 91 points: This was a pleasant surprise. My last bottle of 2004, served with lobster w/drawn butter. I expected a creamy, oaky chard, and certainly those characteristics were there. However, the fruit was perfectly ripe and there was a beam of acidity on the nose, which intensified on the palate, and carried through to the finish. Very nice. (4203 views) | | | Tasted by grrrpor on 8/6/2008 & rated 86 points: time was that I loved this wine. maybe it's my palate but now it's (for me) exactly what people describe as "flabby" - i like the creamy butter and over the top chard tastes, but I've been spoiled by the masters (Kistler etc) and this now feels a bit simple and amateurish - not bad by ANY stretch of the imagination, but I'd rather have a bottle of the great stuff every month or so, rather that this more often. (4245 views) | | | Tasted by cookie7 on 3/13/2008 & rated 87 points: A bit one dimensional - butter, butter and more butter. A bit sweet, with hints of tropical fruits. This was the last bottle from a case and my least favor. (2586 views) | | | Tasted by spendergast on 2/1/2008 & rated 92 points: Excellent chard. Nice fruit, allot of oak, great with seafood. (2599 views) | | | Tasted by GSW on 1/4/2008 & rated 88 points: A buttery chardonnay of medium body, though tongue coating. Honeyed-peach and tropical fruit notes and toasted oak. Quite enjoyable. (2628 views) | | | Tasted by cookie7 on 12/13/2007 & rated 89 points: Medium-to-full bodied with a healthy dose of tropical fruits, butter and oak on the palate. (2800 views) | | | Tasted by silton on 10/19/2007 & rated 87 points: Some well-made characteristics, but I care not for bananaoakbutterscotch. Actually best on day 3 (88+). (2825 views) | | | Tasted by cookie7 on 7/7/2007 & rated 87 points: Not quite as enjoyable as previous bottles. Finish has a bit of a bite on it. (3001 views) | | | Tasted by cookie7 on 6/20/2007 & rated 88 points: Nose of honeysuckle. Thick on the palate, with a pretty heavy dose of oak. This also seems to have a slightly sweet finish compared to other bottles I have had. (3062 views) | | | Tasted by hutch on 4/19/2007 & rated 91 points: AD trade show: Yeah, this is Cali chard. Loads of tropical fruit and a good dollop of oak. But why it works with this wine is b/c of the refreshing acidity, and the fruit keeping the oak from making this wine taste like sucking a tree. Full and creamy. Pretty damn nice chard. 91+ (3189 views) | | | Tasted by cookie7 on 4/5/2007 & rated 90 points: Aromas of butter, oak and vanilla. Medium-bodied, initial notes of orange and honeysuckle followed by healthy doses of butter and oak. (3135 views) | | | Tasted by idrinkvino on 4/2/2007 & rated 89 points: Good floral and citrus, but heavy, heavy oak masked an abundant alcoholic burn. Too overbearing. (3069 views) | | | Tasted by Jester on 3/22/2007 & rated 89 points: Once Upon a Vine XIII - New Orleans, LA by Martin Wine Cellar (Pavillion of Two Sisters): A decent, if rather uninspiring, effort which was tasty, but not really worth the $30+ price tag. On the nose and palate, plenty of buttered tropical fruits, almonds, and a hint of something that reminded me of rice cakes. Color is nice and golden and makes you expect more intense flavor than you get. Thats not to say that this wine is bad. I did like it. Its just somewhat singular. The flavors are nice, oak is prominent but no more unbalanced than most Cali Chards in this price range. The best match in this wine is the creamy lush texture and the refreshingly tart acidity. Those are the two things make the wine better than average. I doubt I would buy this for my cellar, but I would get it at a restaurant if they had a limited selection. (5293 views) | | | Tasted by billyb on 1/1/2007 & rated 89 points: sweet fruit, great with ham, one of my favorite chards. (3287 views) | | | Tasted by Mrbuzz on 11/25/2006 & rated 93 points: Believe me, this wine will have it's haters! Lots of oak oak oak.....I love it! Rich and opulent, with tropical fruit, hazelnut butter, vanilla oak, toasted marshmallow, big spice, earth and minerals. Not as rich as some(Beringer), and has beems of citrus acid that really cut up the wine nicely. I think I have the main flavor of this wine.........CAPTAIN CRUNCH! Nice complexities.......should be drunk now, not aged imo! (2696 views) | | | Tasted by silton on 11/22/2006 & rated 87 points: Oaked and tropical to a fault. Tasty, but far from elegant or even complex. (3394 views) | | | Tasted by jds on 11/20/2006 & rated 90 points: Simply delicious. (3378 views) | | | Tasted by cookie7 on 10/11/2006 & rated 91 points: Lots of tropical fruit on both the nose and palate. Very enjoyable. (3096 views) | | | Tasted by cookie7 on 10/2/2006 & rated 91 points: Simply very enjoyable with a lot of tropical fruit on the palate. Full bodied and lingering finish. (3065 views) | | | Tasted by cookie7 on 9/18/2006 & rated 89 points: Very enjoyable still, but not quite as balanced as previous bottle. Still a lot of butter and oak but not quite as smooth a finish. (3060 views) | | | Tasted by dmlove18 on 9/16/2006 & rated 90 points: This chard says "look out, I'm coming through" Nothing subtle about it - oak, fruit abound. Very enjoyable on it's own, not sure how it would go with fish, chicken - might even overpower them. (3164 views) | | | Tasted by AllRed on 9/15/2006 & rated 92 points: Poured at a retailer tasting. Pale straw color. Aromas of oak, apple, pear, vanilla and honeysuckle. Falvors of vanilla and rich buttery fruit. Nicely balanced and finishes well. (1888 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Mer Soleil Producer websiteChardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Central Coasthttp://www.ccwinegrowers.org/links.html
http://www.discovercaliforniawines.com/regional-wine-organizations/
http://beveragetradenetwork.com/en/btn-academy/list-of-winegrowers-association-in-central-coast-california-274.htm
Central Coast AVA WikipediaSanta Lucia HighlandsAppellation: Wine Artisans of Santa Lucia Highlands | Winegeeks article
AVA Website
|
|
