I'm tasting that this is still on its way up. Smells of light nectarine and honeydew melon, some honeycomb as well. Flavors are quite big, a rich mouthfeel without feeling heavy. Long and balanced finish. Tastes of honeycomb, asian (spicy) pear, ripe nectarine and a 'blond-wood' note. Great now (April 2024) and will improve for another 1-2 years.
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At its peak for the "younger" style of Stony. Great mouthfeel, with intense citrus and honeycomb. Has a balanced and lengthy finish. A few more years will reveal the more "older" honeyed flavors but I'm liking this age its at now and will drink over 2024-2025
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Nice 10 year old Chard. Rich texture but somewhat angular. Flavors and aromas somewhat reticent and took a good bit of aeration to evolve. Very mineral dense and lemon and lime zest fruited with green apple. Somewhat minty with a creamy cheese note on the nose. Powerful but balanced old-world style chard. Long lime driven finish. Intense and full of depth and character.
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Gold color, clear and bright. Very pretty aromatics of frosted orange, quince and key lime, with hints of tea leaves, verbena, ginger powder, forest floor and crushed stone - very nice complexity. Fresh and vicarious on the palate, slightly richer in fruit adding hints of fresh apricot to the more citrusy notes, over a dense core of rocky minerals, cardamom, jasmine and hints of tea and honeysuckle bloom. Medium bodied, expansive and firm, with still taut acidity and fleshy plush structure on the finish, closing with nice depth of zesty citrus. Integrated and early secondary, great freshness, great bottle, drink/hold.
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I was worried about this wine based on my last tasting of it less than a week ago. That bottle seemed extremely advanced and close to cracking up. This bottle is completely different. The color is quite dark, but not nearly the off orange hue of the last bottle. Furthermore, this bottle shows much more freshness than the last bottle, and honestly shows no sign of advanced age. The nose shows mostly pear, apole, and cream. somewhat shy in the nose, it is anything but in the mouth. This is full and rich, with absolutely lovely fruit (ripe apple) and great presence in the mouth. The finish goes on for a long, long time. This seems to be right at peak drinking. One of the best Stony Hill Chardonnays I have drunk in at least five years. It is absolutely lovely, and it has only been 20 minutes since I opened it. 5-12-19-9: 95/100.
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Time to drink up. Popped and poured this. Very deep, dark yellow turning towards orange. I'm going between "oxidized" and "coconut" in trying to accurately characterize the nose; at first I thought it was the former, then the latter. I'm still not sure, but the color suggests the former. In any event, it signals "time to drink." Still, this is quite impressive at 10 years of age. A bit of orange marmalade in the nose. In the mouth, the wine shows wonderful maturity and nothing off-putting. Rich, full fruit coats the whole mouth with something akin to butter and cream in terms of viscosity, but here acidity provides a nice foil to save this from being too fat. Finishes rich and full. Really makes me remember how these wines can go from steely, lean and acidic when young to full and voluptuous when old. I like this a lot, but I wouldn't push your luck too far with this going forward. 5-12-17-8: 92/100.
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As advertised, the SH Chardonnay has aged extremely well judging by the limpid color and total absence of oxidation. So, clear and clean, bright and fresh. No oak. No aroma at first but gradually a bit of under ripe pineapple emerges. Light in weight, too and loads of minerals. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough flavor to make it enjoyable. It’s just too skinny. Would another decade in bottle bring something more out?
Nose has bright golden delicious apple fragrance. Flavors of round apple notes of good intensity, light mineral notes, then a very pretty finish. Its kind of a one-note flavor but has balance and a finish with weight but still quite simple in its golden delicious apple flavor. Its early 2022 so it may still improve but with its apple notes, it seems a great match for fois gras or asian noodle dishes.
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I do not have much experience with Stony Hill. Had picked this up on a whim a few years back and tried to be patient given the reputation for being ageworthy. Brought this to a small group dinner, and then by luck was served the '11 vintage just a week later at a friend's place. The 2013 was slow to unfurl in the glass. But when it did showed a nice stone fruit and slightly tropical profile. Leaner and focused, no discernable oak. The '11 tried a week later showed older with hints of butterscotch so on reflection I was even more pleased about the profile of this '13. Given it took a bit for the wine to unwind, I think it could hold further, but was still quite enjoyable now.
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Mostly Whites at Martina (Martina, Mpls): Light gold color. PNP, drank a glass plus over an hour plus. This was rather subtle to start, subdued on the nose, but gradually it opens and shows flint, subtle fennel, dry stone, and stone fruit. The palate is more revealing with flint, smoke, citrus sweet tarts, white melon, tart and tangy but largely mineral driven. Not really any oak showing here. Love the style. 92+pts.
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Pale. Lemony, mineral, earthy fungal funkiness. A streak of green somewhere between apple skin and herbaceousness. Lightweight on the palate and a bright acidic streak. Balanced and long but maybe lacking a bit in depth and intensity. Really enjoyable.
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Drunk over two days. Very little change from day one to day two. This didn’t seem defective but just didn’t have much going on. I thought giving the open bottle a second day may help it open, in case that was the issue on day one, but that didn’t help. The wine was silky and medium to full bodied, but it had little flavor. FWIW, I had just purchased this bottle a few hours earlier at my excellent local wine store.
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Medium yellow in hue and very clear. Apple, pear, and baking spice on the nose. A bit of oak on the palate, more than other Stony Hills I’ve had in past, but still not as much as most CA chards. Good mouthfeel with a very clean and refreshing finish. Very good!
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Needs about an hour of airtime to really shine. A complex, balanced, and graceful chardonnay. This combines the generosity of California fruit with the structure of a Chablis...I love it.
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One of my absolute favorite chards. They age so well and I find them to just be so well balanced. Perfect amount of richness, yet still shows brightness & acidity. Lemon curd, some minerals, not heavy. Paired with seared scallops and risotto.
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Pale gold color. Expressive and exotic aromas - crushed & wet rock, honeysuckle flower, gingerbread spices & wild herbs, lemon & orange zest, earth. Steely, rich and saline on the palate. Dense citrus and earth spices with dried florals. Open-knit fruit and structure with fleshiness to the middle palate and a slightly bitter edginess throughout. Vibrant acid that’s well-integrated, and persistent intensity that lingers through the finish. Drinking very well.
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PnP, chilled, but can benefit from at least a modest decant as it continued to open during dinner. I will defer to MattMauldin's TN of 11/27/19 as he captured, I believe, the essence of this wine - after appropriate airing. Finally, we have a wine that uses the back label real estate to tell us what to expect: "Our restrained style of winemaking creates a fruity, non-oaky, non-malolactic Chardonnay...", then delivers on that promise. This wine has a long life ahead as there are TNs being posted for vintages that are 20+ years old.
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One of the finest CA chardonnays. An excellent scent of herbs, stems, lemon and vineyard breeze. Oak is very subtle on the finish. A wine showing the benefits of cellar time -- a balance of not too overpowering lemon, apple and herbs without too much chardonnay brightness, ripeness and oak. Overall, a savory, mineral, herb and lemon chardonnay. An excellent and well made CA chardonnay. And still years to go in cellar.
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Noted several hours after opening. Light gold color. Showing steely aromas of lime zest, oyster shells, acacia flowers, saltwater taffy, hints of herbaceousness. Zesty and savory palate following a similar pattern as seen on the nose, over a mid-palate core of crushed rock minerality and earth spices. Ample depth and complexity, with crisp medium-plus acidity and broad-grained fleshy structure. Finishes with lingering salinity and spice. Secondary, but still very crisp and bright. This seemed slightly advanced and dumb at opening, but came alive after a couple of hours. Very memorable. Drink with decant, or hold.
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Hot and disjointed. Not sure if this represents bad storage - it certainly doesn’t taste cooked or oxidized. Otherwise clean and nicely textured but it’s falling apart at the seams.
Revisited on day 2 and no different
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great, unique. Nice development over the past 4 years of cellaring. A unique California wine in that it does not have the over oak/over heavy ripe fruit nonsense. Medium bodied wine. Resembles a nice Chablis. Light lemon with a hint of tropical fruit. Minerals and spice. Does not overwhelm and a great food wine. liquid elegance. Excellent.
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Chardonnay Wines at Jason's: Mineral driven Chardonnay. This wine is better at room temperature featuring lemon, spice, sour apple and stone fruits. Medium plus finish. I love this style of Chardonnay but could see why many would not appreciate it. Drink now to 2023.
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Plum Market Luxury Tasting (Bad Hunter - Chicago IL): Walk around tasting, brief note. Riper than I expect from Stony Hill, but with the expected firm structure and a near meaty character. Patience needed, clearly not near its peak.
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Ripe chardonnay. Yellow apples. Feels 15% new French oak - all neutral barrels.
3.3pH 6.9TA 13% alcohol
Feels like very boring Chard. Medium ripeness - but riper than EU. Lower alcohol, and strong acid - probably all malo, with long, leesy notes. Good fruit ripeness - mid-ripe Meyer lemon with some yellow apples. More on the oxidative side than the reductive side.
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Tasted at the Skurnik Grand Poirtfolio tasting in NYC. This very age-worthy white is still an infant (see previous note from one year ago). Tight and minerally (No malolactic fermentation). Palate is a little smokey and lean while also having a pretty dense mouth feel. Mid palate and finish have a grilled peach element in them along with lemony citrus and minerals . Very nice Chard but it needs time. I have found that The Stony Hill Chards have the need for lots of air before you taste them to stay in balance.
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Clear, light-gold color. Aromatics of stone fruit & melon, acacia, crushed rock and white pepper. Dense, crunchy stone-fruit on the palate with bright acid, backed with secondary saline-mineral notes, white pepper and dried florals over a muscular structure with full density through the middle. Finishes with dry lingering fruit. Showing beautifully, but early - holding remaining bottles.
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superb. Nice nose of lemon and pineapple. On the palate, a wonderful non-oak, pure chardonnay wine -- close to a quality French Chablis. Nice minerals and acid. long finish. A rare CA chardonnay that is age worthy.
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Green apple, pear, and white pepper on the nose. Full bodied on the palate with rich rolling mouth feel and a long fruit-driven finish. 50 + 17 + 16 + 8 = 91.
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Napa Valley & Chalk Hill AVA winery visits - 5/30 & 5/31, 2018: Aromas of mineral, stone fruit, spices and dried florals. Crisp quince and citrus fruit on the palate, crushed stone, white pepper and floral spices. Rich density and structure. Full depth on the finish. Excellent.
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Sharp mid-green gold; citrus, pineapple, light honey and oak nose; mid-body; balanced; good fruit and flavor; opens with air; rounds out and more lush finish than last time, hence a higher score. Nice style. 17 UC Davis scale, 92 other scales. w/swordfish.
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Shy nose of honey, yeast, nuts, apricots, with hint of burnt rubber (brett?). Full bodied on the palate with rich apricot fruit, lingering acid finish. Great sipping, but I wonder if the bottle is slightly off or if the wine is in an awkward phase. 50 + 15 + 16 + 8 = 89.
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Tasted at the Skurnik Grand Portfolio Tasting in NYC. Poured by Sarah McCrea, third generation of the founding family. This wine is so nicely balanced and rich with great acidity for longer aging. Somewhat restrained at its current evolution, but showing great promise of being even better in half a decade or more. Plenty of stone fruit, apple and citrus along with lots of minerality.
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Medium lemon color. Nose of lemon, green apple, white floral notes and some crushed, powdery stone. Mostly citrus and orchard fruit flavors on the palate with some underlying minerality. Great acidity and very pure flavors unadulterated by any oak. It's tough to successfully pull off Cali chard with no oak and no malo but this is a beautiful wine. Wish I had more in the cellar.
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Similar as last note. Light Chardonnay nose; white peach, citrus, light oak; mid-body, balanced; good fruit extract; good acids; long semi-crisp finish. w/salmon en croute
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Sharp mid-gold; light Chardonnay nose, honey, vanilla; mid-body; balanced; light oak on the palate; smoothing out; long crisp finish. perfect with swordfish.
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This is true to form. Very pale, but gorgeous legs. Loads of stone and minerals in the nose. Lemon, cream. Excellent very finely honed fruit perfectly foiled by racy acidity. So happy Stony Hill has not changed. Unique and, as always, simply, elegantly exquisite. Fine, long finish. 4-12-17-9: 92/100.
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Opened three days ago. Pale yellow.. Good legs. Filled with the typical Stony Hill minerality. Lemon curd. Full-bodied but not fat, it's very lean, but with plenty of flinty, stony fruit flavors. This has a long way to go. 4-11-16-8: 89/100.
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Pale yellow color. Golden apple and citrus notes on the nose along with some crushed rocks and wet stone. Similar flavors on the palate with medium+ acidity and a sleek mouthfeel. No oak or malo provides a very pure expression of chardonnay. Quite good.
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Clear pale yellow. Citrus, stone fruit, resin, beeswax, a hint of toast on the nose. Deep focused fruit on the palate with a nice acid attack, a bit of bite at the back with a long finish. Not quite in balance at the moment. 50 + 16 + 15 + 7.
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Winery tasting with Alex Nose - primary with vanilla and apple Palate - apple, pear, and mineral notes Great acidity that was crisp but not harsh. Long finish.
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Very pale yellow. Light on the nose, very restrained. Bright, crisp minerality -- no malo. Lemon, sour apple, herbal. Long finish. Delicate, balanced and simply awesome.
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4/10/2024 - dino_mike Likes this wine: 93 Points
I'm tasting that this is still on its way up. Smells of light nectarine and honeydew melon, some honeycomb as well. Flavors are quite big, a rich mouthfeel without feeling heavy. Long and balanced finish.
Tastes of honeycomb, asian (spicy) pear, ripe nectarine and a 'blond-wood' note. Great now (April 2024) and will improve for another 1-2 years.
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2/19/2024 - dino_mike Likes this wine: 90 Points
At its peak for the "younger" style of Stony. Great mouthfeel, with intense citrus and honeycomb. Has a balanced and lengthy finish. A few more years will reveal the more "older" honeyed flavors but I'm liking this age its at now and will drink over 2024-2025
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11/23/2023 - oldwines Likes this wine: 93 Points
Nice 10 year old Chard. Rich texture but somewhat angular. Flavors and aromas somewhat reticent and took a good bit of aeration to evolve. Very mineral dense and lemon and lime zest fruited with green apple. Somewhat minty with a creamy cheese note on the nose. Powerful but balanced old-world style chard. Long lime driven finish. Intense and full of depth and character.
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7/19/2023 - nmiller Likes this wine:
Perfect
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7/14/2023 - MattMauldin Likes this wine: 95 Points
Gold color, clear and bright. Very pretty aromatics of frosted orange, quince and key lime, with hints of tea leaves, verbena, ginger powder, forest floor and crushed stone - very nice complexity. Fresh and vicarious on the palate, slightly richer in fruit adding hints of fresh apricot to the more citrusy notes, over a dense core of rocky minerals, cardamom, jasmine and hints of tea and honeysuckle bloom. Medium bodied, expansive and firm, with still taut acidity and fleshy plush structure on the finish, closing with nice depth of zesty citrus. Integrated and early secondary, great freshness, great bottle, drink/hold.
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6/19/2023 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 95 Points
I was worried about this wine based on my last tasting of it less than a week ago. That bottle seemed extremely advanced and close to cracking up. This bottle is completely different. The color is quite dark, but not nearly the off orange hue of the last bottle. Furthermore, this bottle shows much more freshness than the last bottle, and honestly shows no sign of advanced age. The nose shows mostly pear, apole, and cream. somewhat shy in the nose, it is anything but in the mouth. This is full and rich, with absolutely lovely fruit (ripe apple) and great presence in the mouth. The finish goes on for a long, long time. This seems to be right at peak drinking. One of the best Stony Hill Chardonnays I have drunk in at least five years. It is absolutely lovely, and it has only been 20 minutes since I opened it. 5-12-19-9: 95/100.
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6/17/2023 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 92 Points
Time to drink up. Popped and poured this. Very deep, dark yellow turning towards orange. I'm going between "oxidized" and "coconut" in trying to accurately characterize the nose; at first I thought it was the former, then the latter. I'm still not sure, but the color suggests the former. In any event, it signals "time to drink." Still, this is quite impressive at 10 years of age. A bit of orange marmalade in the nose. In the mouth, the wine shows wonderful maturity and nothing off-putting. Rich, full fruit coats the whole mouth with something akin to butter and cream in terms of viscosity, but here acidity provides a nice foil to save this from being too fat. Finishes rich and full. Really makes me remember how these wines can go from steely, lean and acidic when young to full and voluptuous when old. I like this a lot, but I wouldn't push your luck too far with this going forward. 5-12-17-8: 92/100.
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8/13/2022 - sdr wrote: 90 Points
As advertised, the SH Chardonnay has aged extremely well judging by the limpid color and total absence of oxidation. So, clear and clean, bright and fresh. No oak. No aroma at first but gradually a bit of under ripe pineapple emerges. Light in weight, too and loads of minerals. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough flavor to make it enjoyable. It’s just too skinny. Would another decade in bottle bring something more out?
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4/19/2022 - dino_mike Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nose has bright golden delicious apple fragrance. Flavors of round apple notes of good intensity, light mineral notes, then a very pretty finish. Its kind of a one-note flavor but has balance and a finish with weight but still quite simple in its golden delicious apple flavor. Its early 2022 so it may still improve but with its apple notes, it seems a great match for fois gras or asian noodle dishes.
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2/8/2022 - Tonyboons33 Likes this wine: 93 Points
One of my faves
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1/26/2022 - btock wrote: 91 Points
I do not have much experience with Stony Hill. Had picked this up on a whim a few years back and tried to be patient given the reputation for being ageworthy. Brought this to a small group dinner, and then by luck was served the '11 vintage just a week later at a friend's place. The 2013 was slow to unfurl in the glass. But when it did showed a nice stone fruit and slightly tropical profile. Leaner and focused, no discernable oak. The '11 tried a week later showed older with hints of butterscotch so on reflection I was even more pleased about the profile of this '13. Given it took a bit for the wine to unwind, I think it could hold further, but was still quite enjoyable now.
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1/26/2022 - rocknroller wrote: 92 Points
Mostly Whites at Martina (Martina, Mpls): Light gold color. PNP, drank a glass plus over an hour plus. This was rather subtle to start, subdued on the nose, but gradually it opens and shows flint, subtle fennel, dry stone, and stone fruit. The palate is more revealing with flint, smoke, citrus sweet tarts, white melon, tart and tangy but largely mineral driven. Not really any oak showing here. Love the style. 92+pts.
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1/1/2022 - danseng wrote: 92 Points
Getting better every time I open a bottle. Glad to have a lot left to see how they develop over the next 5-10 years.
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11/29/2021 - windtalker Likes this wine: 93 Points
Pale. Lemony, mineral, earthy fungal funkiness. A streak of green somewhere between apple skin and herbaceousness. Lightweight on the palate and a bright acidic streak. Balanced and long but maybe lacking a bit in depth and intensity. Really enjoyable.
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9/11/2021 - kabert Does not like this wine: 86 Points
Drunk over two days. Very little change from day one to day two. This didn’t seem defective but just didn’t have much going on. I thought giving the open bottle a second day may help it open, in case that was the issue on day one, but that didn’t help. The wine was silky and medium to full bodied, but it had little flavor. FWIW, I had just purchased this bottle a few hours earlier at my excellent local wine store.
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2/14/2021 - Bfinny00 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Medium yellow in hue and very clear. Apple, pear, and baking spice on the nose. A bit of oak on the palate, more than other Stony Hills I’ve had in past, but still not as much as most CA chards. Good mouthfeel with a very clean and refreshing finish. Very good!
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2/9/2021 - BillBell73 Likes this wine:
Needs about an hour of airtime to really shine. A complex, balanced, and graceful chardonnay. This combines the generosity of California fruit with the structure of a Chablis...I love it.
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12/1/2020 - Tonyboons33 Likes this wine: 93 Points
One of my absolute favorite chards. They age so well and I find them to just be so well balanced. Perfect amount of richness, yet still shows brightness & acidity. Lemon curd, some minerals, not heavy. Paired with seared scallops and risotto.
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10/2/2020 - MattMauldin Likes this wine: 93 Points
Pale gold color. Expressive and exotic aromas - crushed & wet rock, honeysuckle flower, gingerbread spices & wild herbs, lemon & orange zest, earth. Steely, rich and saline on the palate. Dense citrus and earth spices with dried florals. Open-knit fruit and structure with fleshiness to the middle palate and a slightly bitter edginess throughout. Vibrant acid that’s well-integrated, and persistent intensity that lingers through the finish. Drinking very well.
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8/25/2020 - VlgJeff wrote: 90 Points
PnP, chilled, but can benefit from at least a modest decant as it continued to open during dinner. I will defer to MattMauldin's TN of 11/27/19 as he captured, I believe, the essence of this wine - after appropriate airing.
Finally, we have a wine that uses the back label real estate to tell us what to expect: "Our restrained style of winemaking creates a fruity, non-oaky, non-malolactic Chardonnay...", then delivers on that promise. This wine has a long life ahead as there are TNs being posted for vintages that are 20+ years old.
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8/6/2020 - fredshouse Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very nice.
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3/21/2020 - davidb18 Likes this wine: 95 Points
One of the finest CA chardonnays. An excellent scent of herbs, stems, lemon and vineyard breeze. Oak is very subtle on the finish. A wine showing the benefits of cellar time -- a balance of not too overpowering lemon, apple and herbs without too much chardonnay brightness, ripeness and oak. Overall, a savory, mineral, herb and lemon chardonnay. An excellent and well made CA chardonnay. And still years to go in cellar.
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11/27/2019 - MattMauldin Likes this wine: 93 Points
Noted several hours after opening. Light gold color. Showing steely aromas of lime zest, oyster shells, acacia flowers, saltwater taffy, hints of herbaceousness. Zesty and savory palate following a similar pattern as seen on the nose, over a mid-palate core of crushed rock minerality and earth spices. Ample depth and complexity, with crisp medium-plus acidity and broad-grained fleshy structure. Finishes with lingering salinity and spice. Secondary, but still very crisp and bright. This seemed slightly advanced and dumb at opening, but came alive after a couple of hours. Very memorable. Drink with decant, or hold.
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11/5/2019 - jviz wrote:
Hot and disjointed. Not sure if this represents bad storage - it certainly doesn’t taste cooked or oxidized. Otherwise clean and nicely textured but it’s falling apart at the seams.
Revisited on day 2 and no different
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10/10/2019 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Stony and mineral, textural, savory.
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9/24/2019 - davidb18 Likes this wine: 93 Points
great, unique. Nice development over the past 4 years of cellaring. A unique California wine in that it does not have the over oak/over heavy ripe fruit nonsense. Medium bodied wine. Resembles a nice Chablis. Light lemon with a hint of tropical fruit. Minerals and spice. Does not overwhelm and a great food wine. liquid elegance. Excellent.
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8/21/2019 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Stont. And dare I say coming around. Not as nutty. Freshier. Peachy but with great depth.
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7/26/2019 - GiWineDoc Likes this wine: 90 Points
Typical Cali chard
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7/19/2019 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Lactic and limestone. Just opened tight.
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7/11/2019 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Allot going on there.
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6/29/2019 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 92 Points
Chardonnay Wines at Jason's: Mineral driven Chardonnay. This wine is better at room temperature featuring lemon, spice, sour apple and stone fruits. Medium plus finish. I love this style of Chardonnay but could see why many would not appreciate it. Drink now to 2023.
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5/16/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
Plum Market Luxury Tasting (Bad Hunter - Chicago IL): Walk around tasting, brief note. Riper than I expect from Stony Hill, but with the expected firm structure and a near meaty character. Patience needed, clearly not near its peak.
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5/16/2019 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
Plum Market Spring Wine Extravaganza (Chicago, IL): An odd blend of earthy funk and honey; the fruit is ripe, but there's acidity to balance it. Doesn't seem as clean as I like.
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5/14/2019 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Pineapple on the nose. Nutty and mineral. Long. Fine.
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4/22/2019 - DSR wrote: 90 Points
Brief note. Yellow apple, pear, lemon, no oak. Bright, mineral, nice acidity. Med+ finish.
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4/18/2019 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Pear and apricot on the nose. Clean and rounded on the palate but with texture and nuttiness and none of that being over done.
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4/15/2019 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 86 Points
Napa Masterclass - Guildsomm - Kelli White (Ungrafted, SF): Medium straw-green color.
Ripe chardonnay. Yellow apples. Feels 15% new French oak - all neutral barrels.
3.3pH 6.9TA
13% alcohol
Feels like very boring Chard. Medium ripeness - but riper than EU. Lower alcohol, and strong acid - probably all malo, with long, leesy notes.
Good fruit ripeness - mid-ripe Meyer lemon with some yellow apples. More on the oxidative side than the reductive side.
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3/4/2019 - oldwines Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted at the Skurnik Grand Poirtfolio tasting in NYC. This very age-worthy white is still an infant (see previous note from one year ago). Tight and minerally (No malolactic fermentation). Palate is a little smokey and lean while also having a pretty dense mouth feel. Mid palate and finish have a grilled peach element in them along with lemony citrus and minerals . Very nice Chard but it needs time. I have found that The Stony Hill Chards have the need for lots of air before you taste them to stay in balance.
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11/20/2018 - MattMauldin Likes this wine: 92 Points
Clear, light-gold color. Aromatics of stone fruit & melon, acacia, crushed rock and white pepper. Dense, crunchy stone-fruit on the palate with bright acid, backed with secondary saline-mineral notes, white pepper and dried florals over a muscular structure with full density through the middle. Finishes with dry lingering fruit. Showing beautifully, but early - holding remaining bottles.
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11/10/2018 - davidb18 Likes this wine: 92 Points
superb. Nice nose of lemon and pineapple. On the palate, a wonderful non-oak, pure chardonnay wine -- close to a quality French Chablis. Nice minerals and acid. long finish. A rare CA chardonnay that is age worthy.
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8/22/2018 - 1961Vintage wrote: 92 Points
Found this to be very young and tight. Could use a couple more years of cellaring before showing full potential.
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7/1/2018 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 91 Points
Green apple, pear, and white pepper on the nose. Full bodied on the palate with rich rolling mouth feel and a long fruit-driven finish. 50 + 17 + 16 + 8 = 91.
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7/1/2018 - MattMauldin Likes this wine: 92 Points
Opened first of five bottles. Consistent with my recent note. Showing well, but give it a few years.
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6/4/2018 - MattMauldin Likes this wine:
Napa Valley & Chalk Hill AVA winery visits - 5/30 & 5/31, 2018: Aromas of mineral, stone fruit, spices and dried florals. Crisp quince and citrus fruit on the palate, crushed stone, white pepper and floral spices. Rich density and structure. Full depth on the finish. Excellent.
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5/26/2018 - sdwineguru Likes this wine: 92 Points
Sharp mid-green gold; citrus, pineapple, light honey and oak nose; mid-body; balanced; good fruit and flavor; opens with air; rounds out and more lush finish than last time, hence a higher score. Nice style. 17 UC Davis scale, 92 other scales. w/swordfish.
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3/24/2018 - wgmccallum wrote: 89 Points
Shy nose of honey, yeast, nuts, apricots, with hint of burnt rubber (brett?). Full bodied on the palate with rich apricot fruit, lingering acid finish. Great sipping, but I wonder if the bottle is slightly off or if the wine is in an awkward phase. 50 + 15 + 16 + 8 = 89.
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3/5/2018 - oldwines Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted at the Skurnik Grand Portfolio Tasting in NYC. Poured by Sarah McCrea, third generation of the founding family. This wine is so nicely balanced and rich with great acidity for longer aging. Somewhat restrained at its current evolution, but showing great promise of being even better in half a decade or more. Plenty of stone fruit, apple and citrus along with lots of minerality.
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9/4/2017 - Rich S Likes this wine: 92 Points
Medium lemon color. Nose of lemon, green apple, white floral notes and some crushed, powdery stone. Mostly citrus and orchard fruit flavors on the palate with some underlying minerality. Great acidity and very pure flavors unadulterated by any oak. It's tough to successfully pull off Cali chard with no oak and no malo but this is a beautiful wine. Wish I had more in the cellar.
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6/25/2017 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 89 Points
No detailed note, consistent with my previous note, and this time I think it has come together nicely.
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4/30/2017 - sdwineguru Likes this wine: 91 Points
Similar as last note. Light Chardonnay nose; white peach, citrus, light oak; mid-body, balanced; good fruit extract; good acids; long semi-crisp finish. w/salmon en croute
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12/8/2016 - sdwineguru Likes this wine: 91 Points
Sharp mid-gold; light Chardonnay nose, honey, vanilla; mid-body; balanced; light oak on the palate; smoothing out; long crisp finish. perfect with swordfish.
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7/7/2016 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is true to form. Very pale, but gorgeous legs. Loads of stone and minerals in the nose. Lemon, cream. Excellent very finely honed fruit perfectly foiled by racy acidity. So happy Stony Hill has not changed. Unique and, as always, simply, elegantly exquisite. Fine, long finish. 4-12-17-9: 92/100.
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1/31/2016 - MicklethePickle wrote: 89 Points
Opened three days ago. Pale yellow.. Good legs. Filled with the typical Stony Hill minerality. Lemon curd. Full-bodied but not fat, it's very lean, but with plenty of flinty, stony fruit flavors. This has a long way to go. 4-11-16-8: 89/100.
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12/31/2015 - Rich S Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pale yellow color. Golden apple and citrus notes on the nose along with some crushed rocks and wet stone. Similar flavors on the palate with medium+ acidity and a sleek mouthfeel. No oak or malo provides a very pure expression of chardonnay. Quite good.
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12/6/2015 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 88 Points
Clear pale yellow. Citrus, stone fruit, resin, beeswax, a hint of toast on the nose. Deep focused fruit on the palate with a nice acid attack, a bit of bite at the back with a long finish. Not quite in balance at the moment. 50 + 16 + 15 + 7.
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10/10/2015 - Meerlust wrote:
Winery tasting with Alex
Nose - primary with vanilla and apple
Palate - apple, pear, and mineral notes
Great acidity that was crisp but not harsh. Long finish.
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9/29/2015 - mhauser Likes this wine:
Very pale yellow. Light on the nose, very restrained. Bright, crisp minerality -- no malo. Lemon, sour apple, herbal. Long finish. Delicate, balanced and simply awesome.
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