My second of three purchased on release. This was taken from our passive cellar which is at 47F this time of year. The cork was very tight and the fill was med-high neck. It was served with salmon, baked potato, and sautéed snow peas. It started a bit reserved but really came alive as it warmed up with the meal and showed no signs of decline. My experience with this bottle lines up very closely with the well done VANPE2003 note from 2010 and was a sharp stylistic contrast to the 2005 Beringer Sbragia Chardonnay Limited Release the previous evening. Setting aside common prejudices of how Chardonnay should taste, these were both really enjoyable bottles.
Classic Meursault ciric and hazelnut nose. Very bright high toned wine. Meticulously balanced and remarkably young for a 10 year old wine. Interesting flavors on the finish with some real promise peaking through underneath.
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From an excellent looking bottle, this wine had a medium yellow center and clear rims. The medium intensity nose featured citrus, vanilla, and white stone.
As expected, this wine was a bit oaky at first and needed 3 hours to round out. It remained on the full bodied side with firm acidity and excellent length. While not in the top class, this should remain in excellent drinking form for 10+ years.
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I had to completely rewrite this note after 30 minutes, as my early notes did not reflect at all the favorable evolution of this in the glass. On the nose, it initially seems rather evolved, slight notes of oxidization (not enough to throw down the Premox gauntlet). Also a nice creaminess and a bit of sweet oak very much in the background. With some time open, the feeling of age blows off and a spicy floral and citrus comes more to the forefront.
On the palate, quite a different story. Initially young, defined by a strong dose of acidity. Very nice in overall weight, but would need time to further integrate/resolve. More patience (e.g. 30 minutes), and some of that starts to happen, with minerality and a developing creaminess forming a nice interplay. Even then, this continues to come across as a slightly tight, but nicely balanced. I'm sure if I followed Mike's advice re: decant, that would not be the case.
Initially, I was concerned that this might not develop well. More specifically, I was concerned that the initial maturity on the nose would accelerate and ultimately overtake any development on the initially youthful palate. At least as it relates to development in the glass, this is not the case. I'm putting the rest of the bottle in the fridge to revisit tomorrow, per the suggestion of the poster below.
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3/21/2014 - VTCellarDweller Likes this wine: 91 Points
My second of three purchased on release. This was taken from our passive cellar which is at 47F this time of year. The cork was very tight and the fill was med-high neck. It was served with salmon, baked potato, and sautéed snow peas. It started a bit reserved but really came alive as it warmed up with the meal and showed no signs of decline.
My experience with this bottle lines up very closely with the well done VANPE2003 note from 2010 and was a sharp stylistic contrast to the 2005 Beringer Sbragia Chardonnay Limited Release the previous evening. Setting aside common prejudices of how Chardonnay should taste, these were both really enjoyable bottles.
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2/26/2013 - slanum wrote: flawed
Oxidized.
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3/16/2012 - pomerol wrote: 93 Points
Classic Meursault ciric and hazelnut nose. Very bright high toned wine. Meticulously balanced and remarkably young for a 10 year old wine. Interesting flavors on the finish with some real promise peaking through underneath.
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8/3/2011 - fclarity wrote: 92 Points
From an excellent looking bottle, this wine had a medium yellow center and clear rims. The medium intensity nose featured citrus, vanilla, and white stone.
As expected, this wine was a bit oaky at first and needed 3 hours to round out. It remained on the full bodied side with firm acidity and excellent length. While not in the top class, this should remain in excellent drinking form for 10+ years.
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6/8/2010 - vanpe003 wrote: 91 Points
I had to completely rewrite this note after 30 minutes, as my early notes did not reflect at all the favorable evolution of this in the glass. On the nose, it initially seems rather evolved, slight notes of oxidization (not enough to throw down the Premox gauntlet). Also a nice creaminess and a bit of sweet oak very much in the background. With some time open, the feeling of age blows off and a spicy floral and citrus comes more to the forefront.
On the palate, quite a different story. Initially young, defined by a strong dose of acidity. Very nice in overall weight, but would need time to further integrate/resolve. More patience (e.g. 30 minutes), and some of that starts to happen, with minerality and a developing creaminess forming a nice interplay. Even then, this continues to come across as a slightly tight, but nicely balanced. I'm sure if I followed Mike's advice re: decant, that would not be the case.
Initially, I was concerned that this might not develop well. More specifically, I was concerned that the initial maturity on the nose would accelerate and ultimately overtake any development on the initially youthful palate. At least as it relates to development in the glass, this is not the case. I'm putting the rest of the bottle in the fridge to revisit tomorrow, per the suggestion of the poster below.
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