Unusually deep gold in color, this full-throttle wine leaps out of the glass to attack the palate with whole lemon and tropical fruits than fan out to a full rainbow of tastes and sensations. Much bolder than previous bottles.
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Well balanced, a bit more muted and coming together nicely. Bright yellow mid-weight wine with vanilla lemon, beeswax and dried honey, lemon crepe cookies on the finish.
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Wonderfully opulent and dense. Medium gold color. Needs some air or decanter time. Closed off at first but then rich in mixed orchard fruit flavors, nuttiness and more creamy than buttery. Nice texture and moderately bright acidity. Long on the finish. Mid-palate is just a little shallow for me. A little more complexity and acidity and I think this would warrant several points higher.
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Dinner at Bar-a-Thym (Bar-a-Thym): Excellent. This was an unexpected treat served by friends at the next table. It had such a lovely, perfumed nose, with wafts of white flowers and vanilla bean, mint and almonds, a few touches of spice, and a lovely core of white stone fruit aromas. The palate was where this really shone though - subtle, balanced, almost Burgundian in shape, with an elegant cut and feel to its stone fruit, green apple and white flower notes, again laced with that unusual note of vanilla, mint and almonds. Very nicely fresh too, with a lovely lift of acidity on the midpalate and into a long, bright finish. Unique, but really delicious. I really enjoyed this.
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Another really enjoyable bottle. Bright lemongrass aromas, tight structure opening to white peach and stone fruit after 30 minutes or more of air. Consistent with prior bottles and my other notes.
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As yellow as a Simpsons character. Very bold, nothing subtle, but enough (plenty actually) acidity to keep it electrically charged. Think Marge's hair.
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Pronounced nose of lemon zest, this wine is coming together very well at this stage of development. Good balance of fruit, acid and minerality, with touch of vanilla and spice. Most enjoyable.
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Tropical fruit and “skumbanan” on the nose. Medium acidity, some well integrated oak and vanilla on the palate. A very enjoyable with with a lot going on and a unique character.
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Matt Scott's note is spot on. A very distinctive wine, singular, tons of personality, so points just for that. I did not get the sweetness that others have referred to. Very intense nose. Complex, with such a wide range of interesting aromas and flavours! Evergreen/pine, eucalypt, lime, menthol/spearmint, floral, but like geraniums, kinda earthy or "stinky" floral like a marigold - savoury floral - very pleasurable just to smell!! All that follows thru on the palate, with mid to high intensity acidity, some citrus pith - lime peel, varnish notes - tart mandarin - very long - this is really unique and interesting.
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Loaded with a panoply of citrus, creme brûlée, mineral, marble and white flowers. Succulent, with a wide range of flavor, this is long, complex and layered. Transparent and seamless, this percolates and seduces. Very unique and classy, and yet forward at the same time. Drink now - 2027.
Very good. In keeping with other Catena chardonnays. Large scaled with decent acidity. Clearly very well made and elegant for a chardonnay bordering on the exotic in its fruits. I would have liked some more electric acidity and a bit less weight. But I guess that is why I like Burgundy.
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my 6/16 note said it very well... dark color, large acidity plus large sweetness for balance... just a little too in your face for me and it didn't do well after two hours of air... good wine on the PNP, Tiff didn't like it however -- notwithstanding the sweetness she called it 'too sharp'
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very dark color for such a young wine, but no signs of oxidation or age, this is a very different Chardonnay experience, tons and tons of acidity and pretty large sweetness, but good news (for me at least) all the fruit is on the citrus side (saw quince which I get too), wow if you like huge acidity and balancing sweetness this is for you, sorta full bodied / powerhouse, and not for the faint of heart... I would say this is a wine to sip, and before -- or after? -- dinner (due to full body)... won't be buying a case of this each year but I really enjoyed it, one more bottle left... maybe with a cigar??
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The Tanzer note echoes my experience, with lots of steely intensity and quince. This needed and hour of air to calm down and then was better with food. Intense serious wine. Perhaps needs a few more years.
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A Chardonnay, which has a lot of everything, clearly pressure, medium to full-bodied, but with very moderate use of wood, burning minerality, white-yellow fruit, a little pear, mirabelle, zirconium fruits and a hint of vanilla. A little less might be more, but really cool.
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2/26/2022 - Winedad53 wrote: 93 Points
Unusually deep gold in color, this full-throttle wine leaps out of the glass to attack the palate with whole lemon and tropical fruits than fan out to a full rainbow of tastes and sensations. Much bolder than previous bottles.
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4/9/2021 - Winedad53 wrote: 92 Points
Well balanced, a bit more muted and coming together nicely. Bright yellow mid-weight wine with vanilla lemon, beeswax and dried honey, lemon crepe cookies on the finish.
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12/31/2020 - oldwines Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wonderfully opulent and dense. Medium gold color. Needs some air or decanter time. Closed off at first but then rich in mixed orchard fruit flavors, nuttiness and more creamy than buttery. Nice texture and moderately bright acidity. Long on the finish. Mid-palate is just a little shallow for me. A little more complexity and acidity and I think this would warrant several points higher.
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11/6/2020 - Paul S wrote: 93 Points
Dinner at Bar-a-Thym (Bar-a-Thym): Excellent. This was an unexpected treat served by friends at the next table. It had such a lovely, perfumed nose, with wafts of white flowers and vanilla bean, mint and almonds, a few touches of spice, and a lovely core of white stone fruit aromas. The palate was where this really shone though - subtle, balanced, almost Burgundian in shape, with an elegant cut and feel to its stone fruit, green apple and white flower notes, again laced with that unusual note of vanilla, mint and almonds. Very nicely fresh too, with a lovely lift of acidity on the midpalate and into a long, bright finish. Unique, but really delicious. I really enjoyed this.
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10/11/2020 - Winedad53 wrote: 93 Points
Another really enjoyable bottle. Bright lemongrass aromas, tight structure opening to white peach and stone fruit after 30 minutes or more of air. Consistent with prior bottles and my other notes.
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5/9/2020 - SlimShaney Likes this wine: 93 Points
As yellow as a Simpsons character. Very bold, nothing subtle, but enough (plenty actually) acidity to keep it electrically charged. Think Marge's hair.
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2/15/2020 - JohanEssen wrote: 97 Points
Kraftig smak men ändå torr. Utsökt gott och smakrikt
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1/20/2020 - Winedad53 wrote: 93 Points
Pronounced nose of lemon zest, this wine is coming together very well at this stage of development. Good balance of fruit, acid and minerality, with touch of vanilla and spice. Most enjoyable.
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12/30/2019 - llindahl Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tropical fruit and “skumbanan” on the nose. Medium acidity, some well integrated oak and vanilla on the palate. A very enjoyable with with a lot going on and a unique character.
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4/4/2019 - winot Likes this wine: 95 Points
Matt Scott's note is spot on. A very distinctive wine, singular, tons of personality, so points just for that. I did not get the sweetness that others have referred to. Very intense nose. Complex, with such a wide range of interesting aromas and flavours! Evergreen/pine, eucalypt, lime, menthol/spearmint, floral, but like geraniums, kinda earthy or "stinky" floral like a marigold - savoury floral - very pleasurable just to smell!! All that follows thru on the palate, with mid to high intensity acidity, some citrus pith - lime peel, varnish notes - tart mandarin - very long - this is really unique and interesting.
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12/15/2018 - Matt Scott Likes this wine: 94 Points
Loaded with a panoply of citrus, creme brûlée, mineral, marble and white flowers. Succulent, with a wide range of flavor, this is long, complex and layered. Transparent and seamless, this percolates and seduces. Very unique and classy, and yet forward at the same time. Drink now - 2027.
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10/11/2018 - short and confused wrote: 92 Points
Very good. In keeping with other Catena chardonnays. Large scaled with decent acidity. Clearly very well made and elegant for a chardonnay bordering on the exotic in its fruits. I would have liked some more electric acidity and a bit less weight. But I guess that is why I like Burgundy.
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7/2/2018 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 91 Points
my 6/16 note said it very well... dark color, large acidity plus large sweetness for balance... just a little too in your face for me and it didn't do well after two hours of air... good wine on the PNP, Tiff didn't like it however -- notwithstanding the sweetness she called it 'too sharp'
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6/16/2018 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 92 Points
very dark color for such a young wine, but no signs of oxidation or age, this is a very different Chardonnay experience, tons and tons of acidity and pretty large sweetness, but good news (for me at least) all the fruit is on the citrus side (saw quince which I get too), wow if you like huge acidity and balancing sweetness this is for you, sorta full bodied / powerhouse, and not for the faint of heart... I would say this is a wine to sip, and before -- or after? -- dinner (due to full body)... won't be buying a case of this each year but I really enjoyed it, one more bottle left... maybe with a cigar??
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6/10/2018 - Babik Likes this wine: 92 Points
The Tanzer note echoes my experience, with lots of steely intensity and quince. This needed and hour of air to calm down and then was better with food. Intense serious wine. Perhaps needs a few more years.
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6/6/2018 - MQuentel@web.de Likes this wine: 91 Points
A Chardonnay, which has a lot of everything, clearly pressure, medium to full-bodied, but with very moderate use of wood, burning minerality, white-yellow fruit, a little pear, mirabelle, zirconium fruits and a hint of vanilla. A little less might be more, but really cool.
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3/7/2018 - SlimShaney wrote: 91 Points
Tonnes of sugar. Fair ground. Acidic candy.
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10/1/2017 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 83 Points
James Suckling - Great Wines of the Andes (The Presidio, SF): Unusual nose of gingerbread and eucalyptus. Some clove (oak?). High acid and light midpalate.
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