OMG! I just accidentally threw out the last 6 bottles I had of this stuff, not recognizing that in the credenza-sized luggage the lots of three were still inside. Now I wonder if the garbage guys will thank or hate me and subsequently refuse to pick up trash. Somehow Karma has to be involved in this and the Perrarus Chardonnay has gone to where it belongs...
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Sorry for this third note. But I had to say my wife was right. This was bottle 2 and uninspiring. Watery, lacking nose and flavor. And who said this was Burgundy-like?? Maybe bad Burgundy. Not even close.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
2nd day... My wife gave me grief for my 97 rating yesterday. She's got a great palate and felt this wine was a 94. Okay. Maybe she was right. On day 2, finishing this over-the-top bottle, it remained a still noteworthy 95. But no better than that. That said, do read my notes on the packaging below; and do buy this wherever you find it at auction from somewhere near $100 a bottle. No more than that.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Packaging for the pompous. While the bottle is over-the-top, won't fit in your wine rack, silly, if you haven't seen the "luggage" it comes in, a three bottle, bottle-shaped blue foam container with luggage-like handles, you're missing the humor. Fairchild must think we who like wine actually are impressed with this sort of nonsense. Come on guys, drop the BS and price this where it belongs, roughly $100+ a bottle (i.e. warranting a premium price). Now, as for the wine inside this silliness, I think it's great. 97. Great rating. As good as Aubert? Maybe not. Lacks what I describe as the "electricity." The LONG, haunting finish on this, less oak, places it a tad above Rochioli and Pahlmeyer which have a different, more Cal-like style. Still great, just not quite as haunting. So, if you find this at auction for under $150 (maybe well under), consider it. $250 at retail? Are you kidding me?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This is a great California chardonnay. Served by a very generous friend who said the winemaker says it should taste like a Puligny-Montrachet. Just for fun we drank it next to just that. In comparison it was a bit different, but not necessarily better or worse. All that said, it was very enjoyable. The bottle is certainly unique.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Another solid performance, with an all-around sophisticated mouthfeel and texture that defines high-end Chardonnay out of California. Stylistically, this has both its Burgundian moments and its California moments. At first pull, this shows a lemon juice and white melon attack, with whispers of alcohol on the finish.
With a brief amount of air, the beautifully balanced acidity takes over and its waistline fattens-up more to reveal riper citrus flavors, lemon curd, orange citrus oil, honeydew rind, and white rock. After a few hours of air, olive oil and pumice notes surface on the tail. The midsection becomes riper and fuller with time, making for the perception of succulence and even borderline exotic; but the acidity is ever-present and keeps watchful guard over the core fruit.
A top shelf Chardonnay with a matching tariff. No doubt it belongs in the elite sea of upper-end domestic whites, and not to take away anything from the wine as a stand-alone in an otherwise objective vacuum, but for any everyday consumer eyeing these wines, the sticker shock is not without a bit of a bruise to the wallet. I don't own yachts and jet myself off to Monaco on the weekends, so when any wine is at the top of the fee chart among its local peers, it's "worth" noting. Look at it this way, if you're paying $100 for the fancy glass with the artsy metallic label, then the wine itself is in the same realm as its colleagues!
3 days in Napa: Arkenstone, Memento Mori, Maxem, The French Laundry, Christopher Tynan, Kinsman, Harlan, Vice Versa, Accendo, Fairchild, Macdonald, and a truckload of others (Napa): Take all the notes I just wrote on the 2018 Chardonnay and add an extra layer of delectableness – without sacrificing all of the harmonious zing and energy brought about by the otherwise Burgundian style these Fairchild Chardonnays seem to bring to the forefront. Yellow citrus and wet white travertine, with a ripe clementine note that adds extra interest. Outstanding texture and a deep concentration of flavor, all the while maintaining a controlled rapidity that invigorates the entire mouth and continues thrusting out bright acidity. Succulent and nervy. The 2017 is likely a decent marker to where the 2018 will ultimately end up. Again, I am shocked at the level of complexity and polish that Fairchild is able to achieve from this Ritchie site. Absolutely outstanding. 97-99 points.
2017 Fairchild Wines: A new wine from Fairchild, this is flat out awesome. Their stated goal was to make this more like a White Burgundy than a California Chard, and they achieved that in spades. This shows more like a Montrachet than most anything coming out of Sonoma. Hints of mango, pear, citrus, baked bread and minerality on a lovely bouquet. On the palate, this is super pure and precise, displays bright acidity, tons of mineral driven flavors, limestone and wonderful underlying structure. It is fresh, long and absolutely dynamite.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
1/29/2024 - Gary N wrote:
OMG! I just accidentally threw out the last 6 bottles I had of this stuff, not recognizing that in the credenza-sized luggage the lots of three were still inside. Now I wonder if the garbage guys will thank or hate me and subsequently refuse to pick up trash. Somehow Karma has to be involved in this and the Perrarus Chardonnay has gone to where it belongs...
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/21/2024 - Gary N wrote: 93 Points
Sorry for this third note. But I had to say my wife was right. This was bottle 2 and uninspiring. Watery, lacking nose and flavor. And who said this was Burgundy-like?? Maybe bad Burgundy. Not even close.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/14/2024 - Gary N wrote: 95 Points
2nd day... My wife gave me grief for my 97 rating yesterday. She's got a great palate and felt this wine was a 94. Okay. Maybe she was right. On day 2, finishing this over-the-top bottle, it remained a still noteworthy 95. But no better than that. That said, do read my notes on the packaging below; and do buy this wherever you find it at auction from somewhere near $100 a bottle. No more than that.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/13/2024 - Gary N Likes this wine: 97 Points
Packaging for the pompous. While the bottle is over-the-top, won't fit in your wine rack, silly, if you haven't seen the "luggage" it comes in, a three bottle, bottle-shaped blue foam container with luggage-like handles, you're missing the humor. Fairchild must think we who like wine actually are impressed with this sort of nonsense. Come on guys, drop the BS and price this where it belongs, roughly $100+ a bottle (i.e. warranting a premium price).
Now, as for the wine inside this silliness, I think it's great. 97. Great rating. As good as Aubert? Maybe not. Lacks what I describe as the "electricity." The LONG, haunting finish on this, less oak, places it a tad above Rochioli and Pahlmeyer which have a different, more Cal-like style. Still great, just not quite as haunting.
So, if you find this at auction for under $150 (maybe well under), consider it. $250 at retail? Are you kidding me?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/6/2022 - Tonythefish wrote: 94 Points
Citrus, apricots and full mouth feel. Medium finish but very enjoyable
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/26/2021 - Weiner wrote: 94 Points
It is a very nice Chard, I enjoyed it more at the start than when we finished the bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/19/2021 - wilkinsmd wrote: 93 Points
This is a great California chardonnay. Served by a very generous friend who said the winemaker says it should taste like a Puligny-Montrachet. Just for fun we drank it next to just that. In comparison it was a bit different, but not necessarily better or worse. All that said, it was very enjoyable. The bottle is certainly unique.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/30/2021 - csimm wrote:
Another solid performance, with an all-around sophisticated mouthfeel and texture that defines high-end Chardonnay out of California. Stylistically, this has both its Burgundian moments and its California moments. At first pull, this shows a lemon juice and white melon attack, with whispers of alcohol on the finish.
With a brief amount of air, the beautifully balanced acidity takes over and its waistline fattens-up more to reveal riper citrus flavors, lemon curd, orange citrus oil, honeydew rind, and white rock. After a few hours of air, olive oil and pumice notes surface on the tail. The midsection becomes riper and fuller with time, making for the perception of succulence and even borderline exotic; but the acidity is ever-present and keeps watchful guard over the core fruit.
A top shelf Chardonnay with a matching tariff. No doubt it belongs in the elite sea of upper-end domestic whites, and not to take away anything from the wine as a stand-alone in an otherwise objective vacuum, but for any everyday consumer eyeing these wines, the sticker shock is not without a bit of a bruise to the wallet. I don't own yachts and jet myself off to Monaco on the weekends, so when any wine is at the top of the fee chart among its local peers, it's "worth" noting. Look at it this way, if you're paying $100 for the fancy glass with the artsy metallic label, then the wine itself is in the same realm as its colleagues!
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2)
4/30/2021 - csimm wrote: 99 Points
3 days in Napa: Arkenstone, Memento Mori, Maxem, The French Laundry, Christopher Tynan, Kinsman, Harlan, Vice Versa, Accendo, Fairchild, Macdonald, and a truckload of others (Napa): Take all the notes I just wrote on the 2018 Chardonnay and add an extra layer of delectableness – without sacrificing all of the harmonious zing and energy brought about by the otherwise Burgundian style these Fairchild Chardonnays seem to bring to the forefront. Yellow citrus and wet white travertine, with a ripe clementine note that adds extra interest. Outstanding texture and a deep concentration of flavor, all the while maintaining a controlled rapidity that invigorates the entire mouth and continues thrusting out bright acidity. Succulent and nervy. The 2017 is likely a decent marker to where the 2018 will ultimately end up. Again, I am shocked at the level of complexity and polish that Fairchild is able to achieve from this Ritchie site. Absolutely outstanding. 97-99 points.
5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (6)
4/28/2021 - Phil M1 Likes this wine:
Another excellent bottle, lush and crisp, with great mouthfeel and aromas of citrus and spice.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/1/2020 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 97 Points
2017 Fairchild Wines: A new wine from Fairchild, this is flat out awesome. Their stated goal was to make this more like a White Burgundy than a California Chard, and they achieved that in spades. This shows more like a Montrachet than most anything coming out of Sonoma. Hints of mango, pear, citrus, baked bread and minerality on a lovely bouquet. On the palate, this is super pure and precise, displays bright acidity, tons of mineral driven flavors, limestone and wonderful underlying structure. It is fresh, long and absolutely dynamite.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment