Worldwide World Class Chards

What a great night of wines. Top flight chards from around the world with some of the best examples from California that don't break the bank either. Seven of us gathered for great night and lively conversation and food.

• 2011 Ceritas Chardonnay Peter Martin Ray 88 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over 40 minutes. I have to admit that I am baffled by the high scores for this wine. I don't get it. to me it drinks like an entry level Chablis, nothing wrong with it, but nothing special either. Slight toast on the nose, light oak, subtle lemon; thinner on the mid palate, decent minerality, very subtle, light body, flat. 88-89pts.

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• 2010 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over 3 hours. There is a very nice minerality to this, oyster shells, ocean breezes, etc, very subtle brioche, lemon emerges later. The palate has lemon, good purity, fine minerality, lime, elegant, and it develops depth and length as it evolves in glass over an hour plus. Seems young, and probably shut down at this point. As is, about 92pts , with expectation for much more down the road.

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• 2009 Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Medium gold color. Drank 1 glass over an hour. The muted nose has green apple, subtle caramel. The palate shows more with light oak, lemon, minerals, medium body, apple, light spice. 90+pts.

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• 2008 Kistler Chardonnay Parmelee Hill Vineyard Stone Flat 94 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  light gold color. Drank 1 glass over 3 hours. I really like this, it brings everything together in such a nice package, offering elegance, purity, minerality, depth and sophistication. The nose is bright with pineaplle, lemon, spices, minerals, very subtle oak and an amazingly defined creme brule note. The palate is full bodied, elegant, not heavy, good minerality, very subtle oak, wonderful spices, pineapple, apple, citrus and a great textural quality to go with the depth and a long finish. My #2 and tied for group #2.

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• 2009 DuMOL Chardonnay Chloe 93 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over 3 hours. Gorgeous notes of white peach and lemon drops on the nose with light vanilla bean, mild oak, and honeydew melon. The palate is deft and elegant, banana, lemon chiffon, light oak, lovely, nicely layered fruits with a silky texture, a touch of honey, nice acid and a long finish. Love it! 93+ to 94pts.

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• 2009 Ramey Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over 2 hours. Another wow performance, truly a beautiful wine. The nose is so complex with honey, honey butter, subtle smoke, great sea breeze minerality, lightly toasted, citrus. The palate brings it full circle with honey, spice, full bodied, toasted oak, apple baked lemon, citrus and tart acid that all plunges into a long finish. Group #1 WOTN.

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• 2009 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains 93 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Light medium gold color. Drank 1 glass over 90 minutes. The nose is a bit restrained tonight compared to previous bottles and some of the other examples tonight. Still very god with mineral, citrus. The palate is more spiced, medium full bodied, quite mineral driven at present, a bit less rich and dense than the the Ramey, DuMol and Kistler, but not necessarily in a bad way; lemon cream and a long finish.

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• 2009 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay Art Series 93 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over 45 minutes. Just a bit earthy on the nose, wet stones, more citrus than I recall, and no tropical notes now and very minimal floral notes. The palate is quite similar on this bottle, none of the tropical fruit notes that gave this a remarkable intensity of fruit, more restrained and minerally with citrus, lemon, some oak, spice, getting more depth over an hour, long stony finish. An interesting evolution over the last few bottles.

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• 2001 Château Rieussec 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Medium dark orange.gold color. Drank 1 glass over 45 minutes. Beautiful apricot notes rush from the glass chased by tangerine and orange marmalade, honey, and botrytis laden spices. The texture is wonderfully glossy and sleek, honeyed, spicy, orange marmalade, apricot jam, spice cake, intense flavors with a long finish. I t seems that the sweetness and richness is balanced more by the spice than the acidity now, though the acidity is certainly there. Always a special treat. 95(+)pts.

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These wines were so good, it was very hard to make big delineations between them. Many a hair was split in ranking the wines. But voting was done and the the WOTN was the 2009 Ramey Hudson Chard with 4 of 7 first place votes. Then it got really dicey with a four way tie for second between '10 Fevre Preuses, '08 Kistler Parmalee, '09 DuMol Chloe, and the '09 Leeuwin!