2013 Knudsen Vineyards Chardonnay

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 90.5 points

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  3/29/2015 - bevetroppo Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Had some fun with this last night and served it blind to three friends up against a 2010 Maison Blanche (Billaud Simon) Mont de Milieu. Why not? They're about the same price, and the expectation of some balance and elegance in the Oregon wine did not seem unrealistic, especially given recent experience with a lovely Knudsen pinot. Will come back to this later.
  
  The Knudsen chard was a pale gold color, and given a few years of bottle age on the Chablis, not markedly different. Very pretty nose of lemony, citrus fruit, prominent but not obtrusive new oak, inviting and lively. Medium bodied, with sweet lemon and vanilla riding on a sleek well balanced chassis. A clean, refreshing and positive finish begs another sip. Was super with a top-shelf Comte and Fromager d'Affinois.
  
  To me, there was no mistaking the stony, crushed seashell minerality of the Chablis (always easier when you know!) but for some reason it wasn't even observed by my friends. They aren't experts, but with a minimum of prodding they figured out which was Old World and which was New, and all three preferred the Knudsen. It was gone before I knew it, and I had to finish the Chablis by myself, though I'm not complaining.
  
  I don't drink a lot of New World chardonnay as my compendium of notes will quickly confirm, but I have to say this wine more or less perfectly fills the mythical niche that exists in my mind between Burgundy and California, and that's a good thing.

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