2005 Craggy Range Chardonnay Les Beaux Cailloux

Community Tasting Notes (12) Avg Score: 91.6 points

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  7/27/2020 - Marc wrote: 95 Points

  Midwinter, 27 July, 2020 (Pokai Parera, Ekatahuna, New Zealand): Drunk directly after a Jadot Batard Montrachet 2002, this was by far the superior wine. Very much in the style of the Grand Cru, but with considerable new French oak handling, that adds a creamy texture and vanilla palate profile, that is perfectly (and I mean perfectly) balanced by its Hawkes Bay acids. Long, developed, but in no way tired (unlike the Jadot). At a peak of maturity, but showing no signs of decline. The finest NZ Chardonnay I have ever drunk.

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  7/24/2017 - skurtz Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Delicious buttery goodness, consistent with my previous notes. Overall I'm very pleased with uniformity of 5 bottles I picked up in Jan: over the last six months, not much bottle to bottle variation which is encouraging, and to me at least, educational. This is my last bottle from the set. I had been previously shying away from older CA whites, concerned about their aging behavior. Not as concerned anymore after trying these lovely 12-year chards.

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  4/16/2017 - skurtz Likes this wine: 92 Points

  The cork was a pain (broke in half while extracting) and wine was initially a little brash, but after half an hour in a glass the complexity has unfolded. What a beautiful chard! Buttery nose, toast, brioche, tropical fruit. The palate is smooth, round, green fruit and citrus. Silky smooth. Delightful complexity.

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  2/19/2017 - skurtz Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Straw gold in color, decanted for 30 min. On the nose faint herbal and oak notes. On the palate creamy citrus and oak. Well balanced. Smooth. At peak, time to drink up.

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  4/11/2015 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Colour pale gold. Aromatics subdued with notes of clotted cream, tropical fruit like pineapple and guava, wet river boulder and some minerals, with a little citrus and some yellow apple. There is French oak evident but it is not overly prominent. In the mouth, the first impression is that the wine is lower acid and the wine is a rounded, smooth and perhaps a little soft. The wine has a creamy texture, reminding me of a lemon custard (but, obviously, it is not that sweet). Lactic but not over-oaked. A moderately complex flavour profile including flavours of talcum powder, poached pears, some minerals and crushed stones with a clear pineapple, tropical fruit element. Good fruit weight and a creamy texture. The 14.5% alc is a surprise as I did not detect heat on the palate. At maturity, drink soon.

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