Day 1: Nice minerality, apple, kiwi, orange peel, oak and vanilla. Solid California Chardonnay. 92 points Day 2: No hurry on consuming these. Minerality, sour apple, butterscotch, spice, floral and orange peel. Complex wine and showing well. 92-93 points.
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Our 13th Virtual Wine Tasting finished the year off with a bang. I had ordered some sleepers that really hit the high notes. This Chardonnay was tasted both chilled and at room temperature. I would say it's 60/40 that the warmer versions of our white series have done better. The tasters are often amazed at how much better the wines show when not chilled. For me this wine was very different when presented at different temps but at the end, received the same score albeit for different reasons. In the glass it is quite dark yellow/gold. Some initial smells of old sock, banana, pear, apple and buttered popcorn were noted. On the palate it had a buttery mouthfeel with butterscotch, apple and a touch of citrus. The finish was long after a warm honey aftertaste. The chilled version had a stronger nose, which is counter to past experience. Pound cake, some funk, pear tart, vanilla and honeydew were all observed on the nose. The palate was really tasty but some reckoned it was lighter than the warm version. The baking spice/yeasty notes were interesting to me and combined with the apple and citrus notes made for a really nice flavor profile. The wine is 5 years young at this point and will develop for another 5 years at the least. It gets a respectable 91 points from me, just shy of the pros. At $40 a pop, it's a pricy treat that gets 4 stars. I would pair with Chicken Cordon Bleu or even grilled fish.
Jill and I both agreed this was great. Felt like a "poorer man's" Peter Michael or Aubert styling wise. Rich decadent roasted yellow apples and pears, nicely integrated but present toast and oak as well with some allspice and cloves. Palate shows more mineral qualities and lighter fruit which I enjoyed. Really really great wine. Recommended especially at this price point. Paul Lato killing it IMHO.
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This wine has settled in and found another gear since I tasted it last a year and a half ago (9/18 - 90 points). Still gold in color, the wine feels leaner in the mouth and less heavy on the finish. The flavors are still dense, with notes of grapefruit, lemon curd, lime, almond, and creme brûlée. 14.3% alcohol. Maybe Lato's wines just need an extra year, but this is a tasty and impressive wine at about $40. Drink in next few years.
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Duller yellow in color. A lot of pear and musk on nose. Some tart on initial taste that transitions to a more rounded, full but balanced finish - with a hint of butterscotch. Surprisingly enjoyable.
Buy again.
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This creamy and oily Chardonnay is a bit too straightforward to be that exciting. Gold in color, full in body, nose of golden delicious apple, lime, and almond. Tastes of cantaloupe, pineapple, and butter, with a syrupy finish that weighs the rest of the wine down. 14.3% alcohol. I'm usually a big fan of the intensity in Paul Lato's wine, but this wine just seems a bit too unwound and diffuse. I know this is a second wine, but unfortunately it tastes like one. It's not a rip-off at $40, but it's not a find, either.
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Falltacular 2018--some TNs (My House In The South OC): Opened yesterday, kept cool overnight under opened cork. I like this wine on one hand, as it has a green apple, spicy, anise core that is cool. But, on the other hand, there is (at least for me and my fragile palate) too much oak/wood applied to the wine, as it shows a toasty/marshmallow quality on the nose and around the fruit of the wine. I'd like to try this wine with less oak applied and see how that lovely apple fruit could come forward.
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3/29/2023 - thelostverse wrote: 94 Points
Last bottle, but the best yet. Similar lemon oil as previous bottles, but more depth present with a deft touch of oak as well. 94+
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8/23/2021 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 92 Points
Day 1: Nice minerality, apple, kiwi, orange peel, oak and vanilla. Solid California Chardonnay. 92 points
Day 2: No hurry on consuming these. Minerality, sour apple, butterscotch, spice, floral and orange peel. Complex wine and showing well. 92-93 points.
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5/1/2021 - Rcolella wrote:
Great Wine. Agatha's birthday.
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5/1/2021 - Rcolella Likes this wine: 90 Points
Great wine.
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4/15/2021 - Brolawa Likes this wine: 91 Points
Great nose of floral and oak. Doesn’t finish as strongly as the nose suggests but still a tasty wine.
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12/6/2020 - caspernick wrote: 91 Points
Our 13th Virtual Wine Tasting finished the year off with a bang. I had ordered some sleepers that really hit the high notes. This Chardonnay was tasted both chilled and at room temperature. I would say it's 60/40 that the warmer versions of our white series have done better. The tasters are often amazed at how much better the wines show when not chilled. For me this wine was very different when presented at different temps but at the end, received the same score albeit for different reasons.
In the glass it is quite dark yellow/gold. Some initial smells of old sock, banana, pear, apple and buttered popcorn were noted. On the palate it had a buttery mouthfeel with butterscotch, apple and a touch of citrus. The finish was long after a warm honey aftertaste.
The chilled version had a stronger nose, which is counter to past experience. Pound cake, some funk, pear tart, vanilla and honeydew were all observed on the nose. The palate was really tasty but some reckoned it was lighter than the warm version. The baking spice/yeasty notes were interesting to me and combined with the apple and citrus notes made for a really nice flavor profile. The wine is 5 years young at this point and will develop for another 5 years at the least. It gets a respectable 91 points from me, just shy of the pros. At $40 a pop, it's a pricy treat that gets 4 stars. I would pair with Chicken Cordon Bleu or even grilled fish.
https://caspernick.com/2020/12/06/peake-ranch-chardonnay-2015-santa-maria-valley-california/
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5/31/2020 - thelostverse wrote: 92 Points
Opened on the boat, but not consumed until day two. This continues to impress with lemon oil and a hint of spice. Great stuff here.
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4/30/2020 - beezer6 wrote: 92 Points
Jill and I both agreed this was great. Felt like a "poorer man's" Peter Michael or Aubert styling wise.
Rich decadent roasted yellow apples and pears, nicely integrated but present toast and oak as well with some allspice and cloves.
Palate shows more mineral qualities and lighter fruit which I enjoyed. Really really great wine. Recommended especially at this price point. Paul Lato killing it IMHO.
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3/31/2020 - agsdlswine wrote: 92 Points
Excellent well made Chardonnay w/all the characteristics of fine Chards from the Santa Maria Valley. Could go another couple years at this level.
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2/12/2020 - msuwine wrote: 93 Points
This wine has settled in and found another gear since I tasted it last a year and a half ago (9/18 - 90 points). Still gold in color, the wine feels leaner in the mouth and less heavy on the finish. The flavors are still dense, with notes of grapefruit, lemon curd, lime, almond, and creme brûlée. 14.3% alcohol. Maybe Lato's wines just need an extra year, but this is a tasty and impressive wine at about $40. Drink in next few years.
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5/26/2019 - cclearningwine Likes this wine: 90 Points
Duller yellow in color. A lot of pear and musk on nose. Some tart on initial taste that transitions to a more rounded, full but balanced finish - with a hint of butterscotch. Surprisingly enjoyable.
Buy again.
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9/8/2018 - msuwine wrote: 90 Points
This creamy and oily Chardonnay is a bit too straightforward to be that exciting. Gold in color, full in body, nose of golden delicious apple, lime, and almond. Tastes of cantaloupe, pineapple, and butter, with a syrupy finish that weighs the rest of the wine down. 14.3% alcohol. I'm usually a big fan of the intensity in Paul Lato's wine, but this wine just seems a bit too unwound and diffuse. I know this is a second wine, but unfortunately it tastes like one. It's not a rip-off at $40, but it's not a find, either.
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4/25/2018 - Glencoewine Likes this wine: 90 Points
Good QPR. Would purchase again. Mellowed out a bit on the second night.
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2/18/2018 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Falltacular 2018--some TNs (My House In The South OC): Opened yesterday, kept cool overnight under opened cork. I like this wine on one hand, as it has a green apple, spicy, anise core that is cool. But, on the other hand, there is (at least for me and my fragile palate) too much oak/wood applied to the wine, as it shows a toasty/marshmallow quality on the nose and around the fruit of the wine. I'd like to try this wine with less oak applied and see how that lovely apple fruit could come forward.
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2/4/2018 - PeterFromThePan Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasted at the store. A decent amount of oak. I like it.
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