Diam 10 Closure Day 1: Shells, spice, pear, sour apple, apricots and minerals. Medium finish and nice acidity. Excellent. 93 points. Day 2: Excellent again featuring minerals, shell, sour apples, apricots, dust and mild oak. Complex offering and with a friends discount under $30.00 which is an absolute steal. 93 points Day 3: Holding strong. Shells, saline, sour apples, spice, dust, minerals, pear and mild oak. Medium finish and good acidity. Recommendation: One of the better values in California in terms of Chardonnay. A top 10 under $30 this year.
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Ramey @LaMarc Wines: Drukket parallellt med Russian River Valley Chardonnay. Ganske lik duft med smøraktige, lett eikete toner og varm, moden gul frukt. Litt strammere og freshere smak, fra et kjøligere klime. Frisk og "vibrerende", den prikker nesten på tungen og frukttonene er også kjøligere med melon- og stikkelsbærtoner.
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Epic Imports portfolio tasting (Oinoscent): Martinelli Charles Ranch (Fort-Ross Seaview AVA, Sonoma Coast), 340m, whole bunch, natural yeasts, 100% fermentation and malolactic in French oak (15% new), maturation in them for 12 months, bottling unfined and unfiltered, 14.50%, 41.500btl -/- Bigger, buttery, very ripe fruit, peach, nectarine, nutty, dense oak Palate is juicy though, big, acidity nice and crunchy, milky/buttery, a touch warmer from alcohol, full body, long finish
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A little disappointing. I have had great luck with other Fort Ross Chardonnays. This one was tart with little fruit on the tongue. Also, a little Burgundian in style.
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Drank at a restaurant in Boston, paired with tuna tartare, salmon belly and shellfish. My first time trying this well-known Cali producer. Pale yellow, almost green tinge. Tropical fruit and musk nose. Green apple, quince, aniseed/fennel, some underripe pineapple. Not buttery, more Old World than Cali. Very good, but not great. St. Aubin 1er from a decent producer (O. Leflaive?)? Points off for the shortish finish and lack of minerality. 91/100.
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One off ($35) from Costco a few months ago. On the nose and palate, vibrant notes of sweet, crisp apples, river rocks, saline, white flowers, white melon, earthy minerality and lemon zest on the back end. Light to medium gold, medium bodied, light to medium legs. Racy acidity, a touch of heat on opening which dissipated after the first night. VG+ complexity and persistence, VG++ intensity. I’ve been a longtime fan of this producer, particularly although not unequivocally its chards, and I like this vineyard, but I’d not had this cuvée previously; I wouldn’t have opened it this young, but with a thought about possibly buying more at this price point, decided to give it a whirl. Not surprisingly, to my palate, this was a bit disjointed off the pour, with said bit of heat combining with a slightly distracting effervescence I’ve noted in the past in Ramey’s Platt bottling. Both of these lessened during the couple of hours it was open on the first night and subsequently disappeared, not only making the wine more balanced and harmonious, but hinting at a really bright future. Pleasantly flinty, chalky texture with just a touch of creaminess, but little to no oak, and no butteriness, vanilla or sweetness. Terrific with seared salmon, but also quite lovely on its own. Hard to score, as I’d have a hard time going over 90-91 on night 1, but a solid 93+ on night 2. If I buy more, I won’t crack for another couple of years, but think this is likely to have 2-4 years of really good drinking at that point. Another good effort from this almost always very solid winery run by a very nice family. 91-93++
12/26/2023 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 93 Points
Diam 10 Closure
Day 1: Shells, spice, pear, sour apple, apricots and minerals. Medium finish and nice acidity. Excellent. 93 points.
Day 2: Excellent again featuring minerals, shell, sour apples, apricots, dust and mild oak. Complex offering and with a friends discount under $30.00 which is an absolute steal. 93 points
Day 3: Holding strong. Shells, saline, sour apples, spice, dust, minerals, pear and mild oak. Medium finish and good acidity.
Recommendation: One of the better values in California in terms of Chardonnay. A top 10 under $30 this year.
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11/28/2023 - GuWin wrote: 89 Points
Ramey @LaMarc Wines: Drukket parallellt med Russian River Valley Chardonnay. Ganske lik duft med smøraktige, lett eikete toner og varm, moden gul frukt. Litt strammere og freshere smak, fra et kjøligere klime. Frisk og "vibrerende", den prikker nesten på tungen og frukttonene er også kjøligere med melon- og stikkelsbærtoner.
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10/10/2023 - Gruffalius Likes this wine: 92 Points
Excellent.
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9/22/2023 - Berge65 Likes this wine: 91 Points
At $35 price point this is a great every day wine. Can’t stack up with Kistler and Peter Michael but they are 3 to 4 times as much. Good value.
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9/6/2023 - SacAxeman Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great wine with grilled salmon @ Fabians, Fair Oaks CA
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8/3/2023 - Intellectual Sasquatch Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very nice. Agree with previous review that it’s low on oak - which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.
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5/14/2023 - BaronsPaw Likes this wine: 88 Points
Very smooth, but also disappointingly bland. Little flavor to speak of. Still, great mouthfeel and acid.
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3/27/2023 - kostaslonis wrote:
Epic Imports portfolio tasting (Oinoscent): Martinelli Charles Ranch (Fort-Ross Seaview AVA, Sonoma Coast), 340m, whole bunch, natural yeasts, 100% fermentation and malolactic in French oak (15% new), maturation in them for 12 months, bottling unfined and unfiltered, 14.50%, 41.500btl
-/-
Bigger, buttery, very ripe fruit, peach, nectarine, nutty, dense oak
Palate is juicy though, big, acidity nice and crunchy, milky/buttery, a touch warmer from alcohol, full body, long finish
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3/22/2023 - SPerez72 Likes this wine: 90 Points
At $34 good value and excellent weekday wine. Not oaky or buttery which is not our thing. Crisp with hint of fall fruits.
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2/27/2023 - WineGuyFL wrote: 90 Points
A little disappointing. I have had great luck with other Fort Ross Chardonnays. This one was tart with little fruit on the tongue. Also, a little Burgundian in style.
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12/2/2022 - Lord of the Bottles Likes this wine: 91 Points
Drank at a restaurant in Boston, paired with tuna tartare, salmon belly and shellfish. My first time trying this well-known Cali producer. Pale yellow, almost green tinge. Tropical fruit and musk nose. Green apple, quince, aniseed/fennel, some underripe pineapple. Not buttery, more Old World than Cali. Very good, but not great. St. Aubin 1er from a decent producer (O. Leflaive?)? Points off for the shortish finish and lack of minerality. 91/100.
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11/8/2022 - sfwinelover1 Likes this wine: 92 Points
One off ($35) from Costco a few months ago. On the nose and palate, vibrant notes of sweet, crisp apples, river rocks, saline, white flowers, white melon, earthy minerality and lemon zest on the back end. Light to medium gold, medium bodied, light to medium legs. Racy acidity, a touch of heat on opening which dissipated after the first night. VG+ complexity and persistence, VG++ intensity. I’ve been a longtime fan of this producer, particularly although not unequivocally its chards, and I like this vineyard, but I’d not had this cuvée previously; I wouldn’t have opened it this young, but with a thought about possibly buying more at this price point, decided to give it a whirl. Not surprisingly, to my palate, this was a bit disjointed off the pour, with said bit of heat combining with a slightly distracting effervescence I’ve noted in the past in Ramey’s Platt bottling. Both of these lessened during the couple of hours it was open on the first night and subsequently disappeared, not only making the wine more balanced and harmonious, but hinting at a really bright future. Pleasantly flinty, chalky texture with just a touch of creaminess, but little to no oak, and no butteriness, vanilla or sweetness. Terrific with seared salmon, but also quite lovely on its own. Hard to score, as I’d have a hard time going over 90-91 on night 1, but a solid 93+ on night 2. If I buy more, I won’t crack for another couple of years, but think this is likely to have 2-4 years of really good drinking at that point. Another good effort from this almost always very solid winery run by a very nice family. 91-93++
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9/13/2022 - SacAxeman Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great chard, we’ll balanced, very subtle. Very Chablis like
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