2018 Chanin Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 91.8 points

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  7/21/2023 - RGCM Gananda Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Prior bottle was one year ago and this wine continues to show quite well, in line with my immediately prior bottle. White orchard fruit notes along with earth notes on the nose. Medium bodied with rounded white apple, bright white pear and then adds white peach through the middle. There's good depth through the mid-body as well as a touch of richness. Tart citrus, acidity and vanilla on the back continue to contribute to balance. Overall, there's good richness of fruit, followed by complementary structure and a touch of vanilla rounding out through the finish. Drinking quite well now and like my prior bottle, a small step down from my original June 2022 bottle. I will probably open my last bottle in November 2023.

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  7/15/2022 - RGCM Gananda Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Prior bottle was only a month ago, but given how impressively that bottle showed, I wanted to try it again and see if I could get duplicate results. It was close, but this bottle was a small, but noticeable step down from my June 2022 bottle, still in a very good spot, just didn't hit the prior heights.
  
  Mixed white fruit notes on the nose (especially apple and pear) along with a touch of oak behind. Medium bodied with rounded white apple and bright white pear upfront. Adds depth through the middle along with white peach. Citrus and balanced acidity on the backside and through the finish. Balance was quite good, but not at the level of my prior bottle. Same story with the complexity and nuance; well done, but simply not quite at the prior level. A combination of bottle variation and serving temperatures are likely the reasons. All of that said, the takeaway is this wine is showing quite well now with moderate potential for continued positive evolution, but just not as stellar as my prior bottle led me to believe. Next bottle for me will be June/July 2023.

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  6/18/2022 - RGCM Gananda Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Lemon, citrus, pear and light apple notes on the nose. Between medium and full bodied (13.5% ABV) with white orchard fruits as the predominant current flavor mix. There's round white apple upfront along with brighter, more high toned white apple. Some pear notes come in through the middle along with some deeper white orchard fruit notes, all offset with tart citrus and balanced acidity. What this description doesn't fully convey is the depth through the mid-body and how beautifully elegant this wine already is. There were lots of nuances to the white notes, but more than that, it was the overall sense of harmony, where one element lead seamlessly to the next that made this wine special. It has the openness, the fruit definition, the structure and the complexity and delivers it all with style. I'll plan to open my next bottle in July 2022 (as this is too good to wait) and I'll plan to buy more on duplicate notes.

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  12/25/2020 - AB16 Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Light straw color, muted nose, clean light green apple fruit in mouth. Elegant style with biting acidity. Nice wine and even better on a warm day. 13%abv

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  9/21/2020 - bularry Likes this wine:

  Fantastic new world chardonnay. Elegant and classy

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