Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Saturday, April 16, 2022 - 100% Chardonnay from Santa Lucia Highlands - about 2/3 of the fruit came from organically farmed estate vineyards, 1/3 was purchased fruit from other farmers in SLH. Fermented and aged for 8 months in oak barrels (32% new, 68% once and twice used barrels + some older casks). 90% of the barrels underwent MLF. 14,2% alcohol, 6,6 g/l acidity and pH 3,24. Tasted blind.

Luminous, quite concentrated and moderately deep neon yellow-green color. Sweet, aromatic and quite complex nose with open aromas of grilled pineapple, some apple jam, light honeyed tones, a little bit of creamy oak, light exotic notes of cantaloupe and ripe nectarine, a hint of woody oak spice and a touch of powdered salty liquorice. The wine is juicy, rich and somewhat oily on the palate with a moderately full body and quite complex flavors of ripe golden apples and nectarine, some creamy oak tones, a little bit of salty liquorice, light woody notes of savory oak spice, a hint of grilled pineapple and a touch of lemony citrus fruit. The focused high acidity lends great sense of freshness and structure to the wine. The finish is juicy, slightly oily and subtly warm with complex flavors of pineapple, some woody oak notes, a little bit of apple jam, light creamy tones, a hint of salty liquorice powder and a touch of fresh nectarine.

Right from the first sniff I thought "new world Chardonnay", but I expected the wine to be softer, creamier and weightier on the palate than it turned out to be - instead of being a big, soft and buttery Chardonnay, this turned out to be a surprisingly fresh, precise and intense effort with great sense of complexity and depth of flavor. I first guessed this was Western Australia, then I went to South Africa, but at this point somebody else suggested California - which was a bullseye. The wine is starting to show a little bit of age, but the overall feel is still very youthful and will most likely continue to improve for years more. Although this wine shows a bit more weight and ripeness than your typical white Burgundy, I'd still describe this wine stylistically quite "Burgundian", especially for a California Chardonnay. Great stuff, highly recommended. Great value at 25,90€.

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