Vibrant and alive; a good successor to my all-time-favorite 2004. Light on its feet yet full of energy and fruit and liveliness. The nose is penetrating, the mouth (the best part of this wine; full of oily citrus fruit with overtones of nuts and other oils) is quite good and very well balanced, while the length is mostly textural (back-of-the-mouth in this case) in nature as opposed to flavorful, though there's a caramel note on the back end. It's a delightful drink.
Really grew on me over an hour of being opened. I can't say that the wine changed all that much in flavor, though I suspect that it opened up a bit. Rather, I became accustomed to its sense of existence. It's got a very nice nose of chalk and white fruit, a mouth that's quite full of rocks and citrus, and a length that finally shows some non-citrus fruit. This is a wine of a particular style, and it's a good example of such. My favorite of the 2005 Varner's.
USA, California, Central Coast, Arroyo Grande Valley
(10/21/2007)
Unlike the 2005 Rosemary's wine, this bottling is rather unfocused - good, but a bit on the shelly, mushy side. There's ample amounts of crushed, chalky stone and ripe white fruit in the mouth, a decent, rather unfocused nose. The length is minerally, if a bit on the short side for this wine. Seems like the other side of the coin from the Rosemary's bottling.
Young and tightly wound. Nice but reticent nose. Nice round mouth but very in-your-face, if ill defined. Very good length, but somewhat indeterminate. Excellent promise, but not quite there.
Very nice nose of perfumed minerals and yellow citrus. Good mouth of nuts and (especially) oil and oily citrus fruit, mostly yellow. . Good length of citrus peel and intene yellow flowers. Very nice and very well balanced.
USA, California, Central Coast, Arroyo Grande Valley
(10/12/2007)
First bottle of this bottling (many more to go), and quite young. Very penetrating nose, full of intense white flowers and orange fruit. Mouth full of round, orange fruit (and some white citrus) with a thick spicy overtone. Very, very well balanced, even for this bottling, and shows a lingering sense of etherealness, not something that I'd normally with this chardonnay. Nice, long length of spice and tart orange fruit. Very nice, even compared to other Rosemary's of years past, and it makes me want to drink this wine younger rather than older.
A nice bottle of wine, if a bit hollow in the mouth. The nose is okay, the length is better than okay, and the mouth feels nice - it's a bit heavy in its "presence" and bitterness, but the underlying fruit is nice and varied (both white and orange) and the sense of soil and rock is very prevalent.
I think that this wine just needs some time to show its stuff. Try next in 2009?
2005 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard 96 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
(11/2/2007)
Vibrant and alive; a good successor to my all-time-favorite 2004. Light on its feet yet full of energy and fruit and liveliness. The nose is penetrating, the mouth (the best part of this wine; full of oily citrus fruit with overtones of nuts and other oils) is quite good and very well balanced, while the length is mostly textural (back-of-the-mouth in this case) in nature as opposed to flavorful, though there's a caramel note on the back end. It's a delightful drink.
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2005 Varner Chardonnay Spring Ridge Vineyard Bee Block 92 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
(11/9/2007)
Really grew on me over an hour of being opened. I can't say that the wine changed all that much in flavor, though I suspect that it opened up a bit. Rather, I became accustomed to its sense of existence. It's got a very nice nose of chalk and white fruit, a mouth that's quite full of rocks and citrus, and a length that finally shows some non-citrus fruit. This is a wine of a particular style, and it's a good example of such. My favorite of the 2005 Varner's.
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2005 Talley Vineyards Chardonnay Rincon Vineyard 90 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Arroyo Grande Valley
(10/21/2007)
Unlike the 2005 Rosemary's wine, this bottling is rather unfocused - good, but a bit on the shelly, mushy side. There's ample amounts of crushed, chalky stone and ripe white fruit in the mouth, a decent, rather unfocused nose. The length is minerally, if a bit on the short side for this wine. Seems like the other side of the coin from the Rosemary's bottling.
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2005 Kistler Chardonnay Stone Flat Vineyard Parmelee-Hill 92 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
(10/20/2007)
Young and tightly wound. Nice but reticent nose. Nice round mouth but very in-your-face, if ill defined. Very good length, but somewhat indeterminate. Excellent promise, but not quite there.
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2005 Varner Chardonnay Spring Ridge Vineyard Home Block 91 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
(10/19/2007)
Very nice nose of perfumed minerals and yellow citrus. Good mouth of nuts and (especially) oil and oily citrus fruit, mostly yellow. . Good length of citrus peel and intene yellow flowers. Very nice and very well balanced.
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2005 Talley Vineyards Chardonnay Rosemary's Vineyard 94 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Arroyo Grande Valley
(10/12/2007)
First bottle of this bottling (many more to go), and quite young. Very penetrating nose, full of intense white flowers and orange fruit. Mouth full of round, orange fruit (and some white citrus) with a thick spicy overtone. Very, very well balanced, even for this bottling, and shows a lingering sense of etherealness, not something that I'd normally with this chardonnay. Nice, long length of spice and tart orange fruit. Very nice, even compared to other Rosemary's of years past, and it makes me want to drink this wine younger rather than older.
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2005 Varner Chardonnay Spring Ridge Vineyard Amphitheater Block 89 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
(11/3/2007)
A nice bottle of wine, if a bit hollow in the mouth. The nose is okay, the length is better than okay, and the mouth feels nice - it's a bit heavy in its "presence" and bitterness, but the underlying fruit is nice and varied (both white and orange) and the sense of soil and rock is very prevalent.
I think that this wine just needs some time to show its stuff. Try next in 2009?
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