2014 Ancillary Cellars Chardonnay Sangiacomo Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (18) Avg Score: 92.6 points

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  3/6/2022 - sfwinelover1 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  First of 2 ($26@) from a recent auction purchase (not only was I the only bidder, I was the only one tracking the lot!). CT friend msu and meerkats do a generally comprehensive job of describing the nose and palate, although I get a fair dollop of stone fruits and some piquant spice, too. Medium to dark gold, medium to full-bodied, thick legs. Powerful acidity, the slightest touch of heat. Very impressive complexity, persistence and intensity. Well, who knew Mike Smith made chardonnay (I didn’t, even when I bought this; perhaps ergo the winery’s name?) and for those with the limitless time to read my rambling tasting notes, in which I semi-regularly rake Mike Smith’s cabs, which, after all, are his calling card, the better question might be why would I even care? Semi-satisfactory answer: excellent CT TNs and a reasonable price point (I gather far cheaper than when msu sampled). I didn’t know that this was a Mike Smith production when I bought, and TNs aside, I’d have guessed, from his CS style, something huge, high alcohol, totally fruit driven, probably creamy and buttery with gobs of oak. That’s not totally wrong: the fruit is opulent and more sweet than tart—if you confuse this with a chablis, it really is time to stop drinking—and the texture is creamy, but the oak and butter are turned pretty far down, and most importantly, held in check by salinity, spice, and even more so, that electric acidity. If the acidity is a strength giving this wine life and lift, it’s also a bit of a weakness, making the delivery choppy, as others have noted, not completely harmonious, let alone elegant, both after 45 minutes of air for the initial pour and now on the second night. If I didn’t know better, which seems to be a theme of this TN, I’d have thought that this was some 2020 fresh off the presses, and this fractious acidity was just waiting to integrate, but the same thing others have observed 5 or more years ago continues to be the case, so I think that, in the wonderful words of Tina Turner, oh so capably backed by the amazing Mark Knopfler, what you get is what you see. But I hasten to add, I dug this interesting quaff, both on its own and as an accompaniment for spicy scallops with lotus root. At almost 8 years old, this wine is coming near the end of my general window (and the winery’s suggested range as well) of optimal drinking for all but the best CA chards, but while I don’t think that this will expire within the next few cycles of the moon, I’ll be drinking my other bottle in the next year or so. This was the chard follow up to the perfect Morlet CdC, which was probably like batting behind The Babe in the ‘27 Yankees’ batting order, but this is a more than creditable performance. Great qpr gets this the extra half point in the ratings. 92-93

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  1/24/2018 - Acohen Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Rich and intense yellow with lots of lemon curd and apple

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  5/30/2017 - msuwine Likes this wine: 92 Points

  A rich and intense Chardonnay that is drinking well right now. Light gold in color, full in body, nose of pear, butterscotch, and salt water. Tastes of green apple, lemon curd, vanilla bean, and butter, with a concentrated and lingering finish. 14.5% alcohol. A decent, but not amazing, value. I drank next to a 2014 Martinelli Zio Tony Ranch, which was a touch rounder and more complex. I'd wait a year to see if this one smoothes out and opens up at bit: the power is there, but not the grace.

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  4/26/2017 - norzano Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Nose seems pretty muted at the moment. Still get the pineapple and stone fruits. Like it and went great with some nice butter roasted salmon. Seemed a little in between phases compared to the bottle I opened last year.

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  11/19/2016 - Meerlust wrote: 92 Points

  Medium yellow color. The nose was citrus-filled with lemon being the primary note and a touch of corn peeking through. On the palate, there was ripe pineapple, lemon, sweet butter, and light oak. The acidity is quite high, and while it seemed a bit much initially, it settled down as the bottle was consumed. Overall, this was an excellent bottle of chardonnay with vibrant acidity and complexity to match lovely fruit.

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