March 15, 2024 - Pure, crystalline, simple, racy. Smells like a fresh bowl of ripe yellow grapes. Terrific with food.
November 25, 2019 - A little reductive on opening, with good minerality. The website says it's grown in shallow volcanic soils on the south side of the Vaca mountains near Napa. It's a nicely packaged wine with good acidic grip that comes off a lot like a high quality bourgogne blanc.
April 10, 2019 - Only had a small glass, but was quite nice. Drinking well now.
December 8, 2018 - Green apple, lemon zest and saline acidity create a refreshing, compelling Chardonnay. This has the backbone to cut through buttery preparations (e.g. my pan seared scallops) and the freshness to keep the palate energized throughout the meal.
October 6, 2018 - Lunch at Jade Court (Chicago, IL): Clearly a wine with a somewhat fleshy disposition, this is nicely rounded on the nose and palate. Generous amount of fruit here, but hidden underneath it is this vein of sneaky acidity that keeps this really fresh. I'm inclined to think that this will be better with a few more years when the rest of the babyfat is shed. I look forward to revisiting this then.
September 25, 2018 - I’ll just echo the other notes. Killer stuff and reminds me that I do like Chardonnay... when it tastes like this.
July 6, 2018 - Drinking nicely with a few hours of slow ox. Lemon, vanilla, wet stones, and a warm, juicy mouthfeel. Smidge of astringency too.
November 2, 2017 - (Mostly) Enfield wines at Red and White (Chicago, IL): I preferred the 2013 version of this a little more than this, which I found didn't have the same density of minerals and acidic tension. On the other hand, this is a much fleshier example of chardonnay that still manages to stay on the right side of ripeness. The fruit, on both the nose and palate is sweeter, even though there still is enough acidity to balance it out.
July 3, 2017 - This is really terrific, and reinforces my faith in CA's ability to produce top-tier old-world styled wines that actually feel like a good value. This has: complexity, acidity, depth, balance, but is clearly a little riper than 1er Cru Chablis and, as such, is stamped as California. White peach, lemon, some light oak and creaminess. Almost a cross of Meursault and 1er Chablis. Tasted alongside a $350 Batard Montrachet from the same vintage, this, while rated lower, was certainly >10% as good (more like 85%!) Maybe the tables are turning in the wine world for $/quality.