Medium-light golden bright yellow in color. Forward, attractive, developed and complex nose of rich, ripe fruit aromas of apples & pears, citrus notes of lemons/limes & grapefruit with smoky notes, floral notes of honeysuckle, some flintiness, wet stones, butterscotch, spices, minerals with a bit of vanilla in the background. Medium-full bodied with a good concentration of mature & developed, balanced, complex, smooth textured, rich, ripe flavors of green apples, grapefruit, lemons and limes with toasted oak, some butterscotch, spices, stony, minerals and a touch of creamy vanilla. Long lingering crisp finish. Drinks quite well at present and is at the peak of its development although it does have the structure to hold onto this current plateau for another year or two at most.
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San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline, 4/1/2012 (Avenue 5 Restaurant, San Diego, California): Clearly a cut above in terms of quality. Offering generous notes of cream, pear, lemon oil, and smoky buttery oak, with full body and no off notes. Typical of California chardonnays, this wine did not offer much in the way of terroir, minerality, or acidic structure. To find those qualities with any consistency, we must apparently still look to Burgundy.
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A significant floral profile on the nose, with oaky vanilla carrying through to flavors of pear, peach, orange and minerals. Relatively sweet with a long finish that turns a bit dry and tart.
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Another classy showing. A suggestion of sweetness at the start is turned voluptuously to a white-peppered high-toned complexity. Retained real breadth and interest to the end.
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Pale, cool gold. Great chardonnay spectrum aromas on the nose, with a touch of orange peel and caramel, matched and enhanced on the broad palate with a buttery richness and slight viscosity. And then a balancing lightness and focus - a burgundian complexity which I'd not expected. Delicious.
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Tasted side-by-side with a Columbia Crest Grand Estates chardonnay. The Hansel chardonnay had more complexity to it (no surprise) with notes of melon, citrus, and a slightly tangy / orangy flavor. But the finish on this was short and I took a few points away for that.
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overall: very dissapointing. this one was one I was really looking forward to, and it just failed. Good weight on the palate, but oak just dominates this. It has good structure and a long finish, but the finish is all oak. The reason that this doesn't get rated a lot lower is that there seems to be something there, so maybe this just needs a bit of time to show off better.
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Wow, caramel, toast and green apples down deep with melon (cantalope) and citrus (lemon) on top. Nice balance of viscosity and acidity. Not quite a heavy weight but well worth the price.
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5/13/2014 - Vinnut Likes this wine: 90 Points
Medium-light golden bright yellow in color. Forward, attractive, developed and complex nose of rich, ripe fruit aromas of apples & pears, citrus notes of lemons/limes & grapefruit with smoky notes, floral notes of honeysuckle, some flintiness, wet stones, butterscotch, spices, minerals with a bit of vanilla in the background. Medium-full bodied with a good concentration of mature & developed, balanced, complex, smooth textured, rich, ripe flavors of green apples, grapefruit, lemons and limes with toasted oak, some butterscotch, spices, stony, minerals and a touch of creamy vanilla. Long lingering crisp finish. Drinks quite well at present and is at the peak of its development although it does have the structure to hold onto this current plateau for another year or two at most.
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4/1/2012 - Javachip wrote: 89 Points
San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline, 4/1/2012 (Avenue 5 Restaurant, San Diego, California): Clearly a cut above in terms of quality. Offering generous notes of cream, pear, lemon oil, and smoky buttery oak, with full body and no off notes. Typical of California chardonnays, this wine did not offer much in the way of terroir, minerality, or acidic structure. To find those qualities with any consistency, we must apparently still look to Burgundy.
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6/27/2011 - SD-Wineaux wrote: 91 Points
A significant floral profile on the nose, with oaky vanilla carrying through to flavors of pear, peach, orange and minerals. Relatively sweet with a long finish that turns a bit dry and tart.
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10/13/2010 - Regina wrote: 90 Points
Another classy showing. A suggestion of sweetness at the start is turned voluptuously to a white-peppered high-toned complexity.
Retained real breadth and interest to the end.
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7/23/2010 - Regina wrote: 93 Points
Pale, cool gold. Great chardonnay spectrum aromas on the nose, with a touch of orange peel and caramel, matched and enhanced on the broad palate with a buttery richness and slight viscosity. And then a balancing lightness and focus - a burgundian complexity which I'd not expected. Delicious.
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5/19/2009 - LARich wrote: flawed
bottle was corked... too bad!
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3/18/2009 - Maverick wrote: 88 Points
always nice
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12/20/2008 - buckeye76 wrote: 93 Points
CRISP CITRUS FRUITS, APPLES, AND BURNT POPCORN IN THE NOSE WITH CITRUS AND APPLES IN THE FLAVOR. NICE COMPLEXITY AND A MEDIUM TO LONG FINISH.
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12/13/2008 - Mattshank wrote: 90 Points
No formal notes taken. Drank at a Christmas Party. Solid Chard with good balance.
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12/6/2008 - Melli wrote: 93 Points
I really like this wine.....with a wonderful QPR to boot!
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3/25/2008 - DianeR wrote: 89 Points
Tasted side-by-side with a Columbia Crest Grand Estates chardonnay. The Hansel chardonnay had more complexity to it (no surprise) with notes of melon, citrus, and a slightly tangy / orangy flavor. But the finish on this was short and I took a few points away for that.
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1/26/2008 - KeithAkers wrote: 84 Points
Binny's winter warm up (Binny's Highland Park, highland park IL): nose: all oak and nothing else. Not even getting butter or anything like that, just oak
taste: sweet and tangy, but also tons more oak.
overall: very dissapointing. this one was one I was really looking forward to, and it just failed. Good weight on the palate, but oak just dominates this. It has good structure and a long finish, but the finish is all oak. The reason that this doesn't get rated a lot lower is that there seems to be something there, so maybe this just needs a bit of time to show off better.
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12/25/2007 - mitchwino wrote: 92 Points
Wow, caramel, toast and green apples down deep with melon (cantalope) and citrus (lemon) on top. Nice balance of viscosity and acidity. Not quite a heavy weight but well worth the price.
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10/23/2007 - peternelson wrote: 93 Points
winery: Apples, lush, fleshy, creamy, underlying a’s holding it up; grt long fin. Fantastic.
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10/21/2007 - Sternberg wrote: 91 Points
nice bottle......hints of lemon, minerals, slight spice
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