I don't recall having this vintage before, but I see that we drank a bottle about 5 and half years ago. When first opened this was seriously reduced. That was surprising because we had this along with the 17, 18 and 19 vintages, and this was by far the most reduced of all of them. With air though, it opened up, still retaining some matchstick, but more in line with what you normally might find in the younger vintages. I'd be curious what this would be like on the second day, or with a good decanting. Anyway, after seeing some air, this was pretty tasty, and not noticeably any older than the others. If I had any of these, I might hide one somewhere and see what this would be like with some real age on it.
The tasting included Durant wines from Patricia Green, Morgen Long and Kelley Fox. Drinking them side by side reaffirmed to me that Goodfellow does a really nice job with the grapes from this vineyard. I'll continue to buy these, for sure.
A day 2 glass from a bottle opened for dinner last night. The nose here still displays a reductive note, a trait I have commented on in prior notes. This is a structured white, and while I don't know if there is any potential for further improvement with additional time in the bottle, this does feel like a wine that even at seven years of age has a lot of time in front of it. So while the wine might be "at peak", definitely a drink or hold at this time, and at least IMO, you can feel pretty confident holding.
I still have a few bottles left, and off this note, I am seriously tempted to "lose" one in the cellar for another decade.
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Loved this. Reduction that didn’t overpower, creamy, citrus with a long finish and dancing acidity. Great weight, mouth feel and balance. No signs of secondary characteristics yet. Tough vintage to retain acidity and this delivers. Durant tends to have a little more weight than Whistling Ridge.
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Interesting stuff. This has such an uncanny smell of curry leaf to it (if you cook much Indian food you know that strange and distinct smell), and I like it at the same time that it’s kind of distracting.
But the steely and clean texture here keeps me coming back for more. Each sip is a bit of a whirlwind of flavor and tactile sensation: Streaks of acidity running through layers of lemony creaminess, with a finish that features not really flavor so much as a lingering sensation of clean refreshment and steeliness. I wouldn’t call this wine disjointed - it’s certainly dynamic - but it’s also not totally harmonious. But it’s all about tension and release, and overall I found this a compelling and quite enjoyable bottle.
Update: Although an 8-hour decant didn’t allow that curry leaf smell to blow off, on day 2 of open decanting it’s much, much less apparent and the whole wine is more integrated. Unfortunately I only saved a few sips, though...
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Young with a lot of energy. Straw, saline, mineral and citrus. Nose of reduction which complements nicely. You can easily hold this bottle as the best is yet to come when it adds weight.
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Decanted. Wine opens with an hour in the glass. Yellow, urgent, good cut, and a nice finish. Tasted more like Chablis to me. Some similarities to Ceritas, another chard I really like. Lots of lemon, some acid (but balanced), and a tiny bit of oak. It was medium bodied, good finish, not tart at all. I think a few years would smooth some corners, but it’s drinking well now. If I had more, I'd lay these down for another 5-10 years, as I think they'll become more beautiful with age. Excellent.
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This tired and diluted Chardonnay may be impressive to some (95+ from LPB in WA?!) - but not to me. This tasted reductive, oaky, and oily, so much that I'm not sure it was even worth the $30 it cost (not exactly at the top price point for domestic Chardonnay). I tried to like this wine, but there wasn't much there, there.
Light yellow, almost silver in color; medium in body; muted nose of lemon peel and salt water. Thin tastes of orange peel, flint, and beeswax, with a watery finish that carries a tart acidic bite. 13.4% alcohol. I've had $20 bottles of Chablis with more complexity, tension, and character. In contrast, this wine is simple and diffuse; it's like some kind of white grape juice with a touch of alcohol and wood - in other words, not good.
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Light yellow, aroma of lemon peel. Viscous mouthfeel with more lemon and medium-high acidity. Balanced and lengthy finish. This bottle was popped and poured, but I believe it would have benefited from a brief decant. Very Chablis like, a very well crafted wine. Could see 2-3 points improvement with decant and a few more years of aging. Drink now or cellar for several more years.
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Light yellow in the glass; nice (at least IMO) matchstick note on the nose.
Taut and crisp and expansive on the palate - I definitely drink Marcus' wines too quickly, as they strike me as new world Chardonnay that is built to age, but they are delicious at this point as well - hence, my problem ;^)
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This was opened yesterday at dinner. Yesterday the nose showed some matchstick which is here today too. A little oak on the nose too, which I didn't get yesterday, though Ann did. This has put on some weight since yesterday and has a slight oily mouthfeel. Also a touch more apple where it was citrus yesterday. Overall this is a little oaky for me today and I liked it more yesterday.
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Ahh! 9:30 in the morning and I'm "taste-testing" my first two wines of the day in preparation for dinner - man, I do love Thanksgiving!
Very light yellow in the glass, with a lovely matchstick-scented nose.
Taut and dry (almost severely so) on the palate - if you like a crisp, minerally Chardonnay, you could do a lot worse than picking up a few bottles of this fine wine. Nice length on the finish - can't wait to try this with some Turkey later today. ;^)
My first time trying the new vintage; light yellow in the glass, with a nice whiff of matchstick and tart apple on the nose - I love the nose.
Tightly coiled, with prominent acidity on the palate. Not surprisingly, showing very young right now. I thought the 2013 version of this was one of the best American Chardonnays I tried last year, and this new vintage appears to have that same potential.
8/28/2022 - Outplaying wrote:
I don't recall having this vintage before, but I see that we drank a bottle about 5 and half years ago. When first opened this was seriously reduced. That was surprising because we had this along with the 17, 18 and 19 vintages, and this was by far the most reduced of all of them. With air though, it opened up, still retaining some matchstick, but more in line with what you normally might find in the younger vintages. I'd be curious what this would be like on the second day, or with a good decanting. Anyway, after seeing some air, this was pretty tasty, and not noticeably any older than the others. If I had any of these, I might hide one somewhere and see what this would be like with some real age on it.
The tasting included Durant wines from Patricia Green, Morgen Long and Kelley Fox. Drinking them side by side reaffirmed to me that Goodfellow does a really nice job with the grapes from this vineyard. I'll continue to buy these, for sure.
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10/17/2021 - Bob H wrote:
A day 2 glass from a bottle opened for dinner last night. The nose here still displays a reductive note, a trait I have commented on in prior notes. This is a structured white, and while I don't know if there is any potential for further improvement with additional time in the bottle, this does feel like a wine that even at seven years of age has a lot of time in front of it. So while the wine might be "at peak", definitely a drink or hold at this time, and at least IMO, you can feel pretty confident holding.
I still have a few bottles left, and off this note, I am seriously tempted to "lose" one in the cellar for another decade.
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4/9/2021 - Oregonnative Likes this wine: 95 Points
Loved this. Reduction that didn’t overpower, creamy, citrus with a long finish and dancing acidity. Great weight, mouth feel and balance. No signs of secondary characteristics yet. Tough vintage to retain acidity and this delivers. Durant tends to have a little more weight than Whistling Ridge.
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10/12/2020 - Bob H wrote:
Very likable - still with a distinct reductive note on the nose, but the palate has relaxed. Lighter bodied, good acidity and persistence.
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10/13/2019 - OregonLoafer Likes this wine:
Interesting stuff. This has such an uncanny smell of curry leaf to it (if you cook much Indian food you know that strange and distinct smell), and I like it at the same time that it’s kind of distracting.
But the steely and clean texture here keeps me coming back for more. Each sip is a bit of a whirlwind of flavor and tactile sensation: Streaks of acidity running through layers of lemony creaminess, with a finish that features not really flavor so much as a lingering sensation of clean refreshment and steeliness. I wouldn’t call this wine disjointed - it’s certainly dynamic - but it’s also not totally harmonious. But it’s all about tension and release, and overall I found this a compelling and quite enjoyable bottle.
Update: Although an 8-hour decant didn’t allow that curry leaf smell to blow off, on day 2 of open decanting it’s much, much less apparent and the whole wine is more integrated. Unfortunately I only saved a few sips, though...
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6/29/2019 - Bob H wrote:
Reductive matchstick note on the nose. I love it, but also get why some folks struggle with that scent.
Lemon curd on the palate. Good acidity for lift. More expansive now that it has a couple years in bottle, and very likable.
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2/22/2019 - Bob H wrote:
A glass from a bottle opened earlier this week. You get some of that reductive matchstick/petrol note on the nose.
Steely and structured on the palate - IMO, this has years in front of it. Very good.
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9/2/2018 - Oregonnative wrote: 93 Points
Young with a lot of energy. Straw, saline, mineral and citrus. Nose of reduction which complements nicely. You can easily hold this bottle as the best is yet to come when it adds weight.
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5/10/2018 - BigTex22 Likes this wine:
Last bottle, same as before.
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5/4/2018 - BigTex22 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted. Wine opens with an hour in the glass. Yellow, urgent, good cut, and a nice finish. Tasted more like Chablis to me. Some similarities to Ceritas, another chard I really like. Lots of lemon, some acid (but balanced), and a tiny bit of oak. It was medium bodied, good finish, not tart at all. I think a few years would smooth some corners, but it’s drinking well now. If I had more, I'd lay these down for another 5-10 years, as I think they'll become more beautiful with age. Excellent.
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3/29/2018 - msuwine wrote: 85 Points
This tired and diluted Chardonnay may be impressive to some (95+ from LPB in WA?!) - but not to me. This tasted reductive, oaky, and oily, so much that I'm not sure it was even worth the $30 it cost (not exactly at the top price point for domestic Chardonnay). I tried to like this wine, but there wasn't much there, there.
Light yellow, almost silver in color; medium in body; muted nose of lemon peel and salt water. Thin tastes of orange peel, flint, and beeswax, with a watery finish that carries a tart acidic bite. 13.4% alcohol. I've had $20 bottles of Chablis with more complexity, tension, and character. In contrast, this wine is simple and diffuse; it's like some kind of white grape juice with a touch of alcohol and wood - in other words, not good.
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11/18/2017 - BigTex22 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Light yellow, aroma of lemon peel. Viscous mouthfeel with more lemon and medium-high acidity. Balanced and lengthy finish. This bottle was popped and poured, but I believe it would have benefited from a brief decant. Very Chablis like, a very well crafted wine. Could see 2-3 points improvement with decant and a few more years of aging. Drink now or cellar for several more years.
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6/10/2017 - Bob H Likes this wine:
Light yellow in the glass; nice (at least IMO) matchstick note on the nose.
Taut and crisp and expansive on the palate - I definitely drink Marcus' wines too quickly, as they strike me as new world Chardonnay that is built to age, but they are delicious at this point as well - hence, my problem ;^)
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3/13/2017 - Outplaying wrote:
This was opened yesterday at dinner. Yesterday the nose showed some matchstick which is here today too. A little oak on the nose too, which I didn't get yesterday, though Ann did. This has put on some weight since yesterday and has a slight oily mouthfeel. Also a touch more apple where it was citrus yesterday. Overall this is a little oaky for me today and I liked it more yesterday.
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11/24/2016 - Bob H Likes this wine:
Ahh! 9:30 in the morning and I'm "taste-testing" my first two wines of the day in preparation for dinner - man, I do love Thanksgiving!
Very light yellow in the glass, with a lovely matchstick-scented nose.
Taut and dry (almost severely so) on the palate - if you like a crisp, minerally Chardonnay, you could do a lot worse than picking up a few bottles of this fine wine. Nice length on the finish - can't wait to try this with some Turkey later today. ;^)
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9/25/2016 - Bob H Likes this wine:
My first time trying the new vintage; light yellow in the glass, with a nice whiff of matchstick and tart apple on the nose - I love the nose.
Tightly coiled, with prominent acidity on the palate. Not surprisingly, showing very young right now. I thought the 2013 version of this was one of the best American Chardonnays I tried last year, and this new vintage appears to have that same potential.
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