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2016 Chateau Lamothe-Cissac (kosher)
I recently had the chance to sit down and taste this wine in my house. I tasted it twice at KFWE and in the end, it was better in the home, after it had the chance to decant and show its real potential.
The wine is made at Domaines Fabre in the Haut-Médoc AOC. The wine is classified under Cru Bourgeois, which while may not be a top classification, includes 267 estates today! One of my all-time favorites is under the Cru Bourgeois classification, Fourcas Dupre!
The classification has wineries from many regions on the left bank and the vast majority of these wines are Cabernet Sauvignon dominated.
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:
2016 Chateau Lamothe-Cissac, Cru Bourgeois, Haut-Médoc – Score: 91 (QPR)
This wine is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 8% Petit Verdot. This is a fun wine, remember that we have not yet seen the big wines of 2016. As I have said many times on this blog, the 2016 vintage in Bordeaux may well be better than the 2015 vintage! For now, the few 2016 reds we have seen from Bordeaux are showing nicely.
The nose on this wine shows very nicely with rich loam, dirt, green notes, followed by bright and big black fruit, with hints of mushroom in the background, lovely mint, and menthol notes abound as well. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is fun and alive, with screaming acid, that gives way to intense tannin that is soft and yet rich and mouth coating, with great fruit focus, showing blackcurrant, blackberry, with red cherry, and olives, that give way to green notes, mouth scraping mineral, foliage, and tobacco. The finish is long and green, at the start it is a bit too astringent and green to truly enjoy, with time it comes around with nice spice, earth, graphite, sour notes, more red and black fruit, and nice coffee/chocolate mix. Nice! It can be drunk now, but to really appreciate it, I would decant it for a good 3 hours, to cut some of the green and astringent notes. Drink now (with decanting) till 2027.
The French are coming the French are coming
By now it should no surprise to you at all that I really like old world wines and controlled new world wines, like California, Spain, and some top wineries in Israel. The wines from Italy, like Terra de Seta’s wines, are all old world in style, though they have a couple of new world wines as well, and they are a bit too much for me.
So, I thought it was time to update the notes on all the 2014 and 2015 French wines that are here in the USA. Yes, the 2014 wines have been here for some time, but I am shocked to see that they did not sell out yet like the 2014 Chateau Montviel, which flew off the shelves and essentially disappeared within a month. Much akin to the 2013 Chateau Piada Sauterne, that also disappeared within a month or so, a great wine with a very good price tag. Of course, both of them were made in too small of a run, which we can all complain about to Royal. However, as I stated earlier, in my post of the 2015 and 2016 Bordeaux wines, Royal will do whatever it needs to never see a wall of wine sitting in its warehouse again, even if that means we all lose out. The saying, “Less is more”, is a perfect ideal by which Royal runs its French wine business. Please do not get me wrong, we are all indebted to the Royal wine company and its Royal Europe division for making us wines we all adore. That said, they made a small run of the two aforementioned wines and having less, while painful for the consumers, is more for Royal, as the memories of 2003 and on, where walls of wine sat unsold, is one that will not be forgotten anytime soon.
I have already posted about some of the whites and the Sparkling wines from France, and I will add the two 2014 Sauterne that I enjoyed below.
So, that sets us up for the state of French wine in the USA, the 2014s are all here including the 2014 Chateau Smith Haut Lafite, which is made by IDS, and I will leave it at that. However, the 2015 wines from France, are already starting to arrive on our shores. The 2015 wines from Royal, that I tasted last year in Bordeaux from the barrel and posted on here, will be here in bottle format, before the end of the Gregorian calendar year. As I stated in my post, the prices will shock you, the Grand Vin from Leoville Poyferre will top the $200 range retail, and they will be priced alongside older vintages of Leoville that are being sold in NYC and soon on Kosherwine.com. That will be fun to watch.
The 2014 vintage in comparison is actually very reasonably priced, and while it is not the monster 2015 vintage, it is still a very good vintage and one that will not give you the heartache and sticker shock that the 2015 vintage will give you. The superstar wines of the 2014 vintage are still very reasonably priced, Chateau Giscours, Chateau Malartic, Chateau Soutard, Chateau Marsac Seguineau (in France only sadly). Along with the very good 2014 Pavillon de Leoville Poyferre, and Les Roches De Yon-Figeac Saint Emilion Grand Cru. The latter two wines are wines that should be laddered into your wine list as they will drink earlier and not last as long. That gives you wines that will be ready soon and help to keep you away from the Grand Vin wines which need a TON of time. Of course, you should buy as much of the 2015 Fourcas Dupe that you can find when it arrives along with the other QPR shocker – the 2015 Chateau Larcis Jaumat – which I think will be priced at the same range as the Fourcas Dupre. But remember, the Fourcas from 2015 will be priced a good 15 to 25% higher than in previous vintages and maybe the 2015 Chateau Larcis Jaumat will be priced at the higher tier as well.
Recently, I have been tasting other 2014 superstars, and a new one is here now, the 2014 Chateau Tour Saint Christophe – a lovely wine that we tasted side by side the 2014 Chateau Soutard, two wines that are very different in style but which are located very near to each other. They are both A- to A wines and the Christophe is actually cheaper than the Chateau Soutard.
We also enjoyed a fair number of new 2015 wines and some are downright awesome and some are nice, but their costs are already getting out of hand. Like the 2015 Domaine Condorcet Chateauneuf du Pape. It is a very nice wine, but for 75 dollars retail, it is not worth it. A lovely wine that is super bright and tart and very nice, but is you kidding me! Trust me when I say, this is JUST THE START, of a bunch of wines that may well price themselves out of the market – which would be scary, given the sheer number of 2015 wines made!. What if these 2015 wines are just very nice – why would I pay 75 dollars for that? It is a very important question that will be answered over time. Sure, people will take a shot on one of them here and there, to see what it tastes like. However, soon enough the word gets around and then what? Will it sit there? Only time will tell.
The prices went up, and the costs of producing them as I explained in my Bordeaux post has either stayed the same or gone up as well. So, what happens if the importers do not have enough money to keep them on the market? Only time will tell!
There is another 2015 Domaine Condorcet Chateauneuf du Pape, the other one has the label of Cuvee Anais of Condorcet – but I did not find it the day I bought its “cheaper” little brother. The Cuvee Anais of Condorcet is meant to be a bolder wine while the Domaine Condorcet is the lower label.
Below please find all the 2014 and 2015 red wines that I have tasted so far. Some of them are not easy if at all available, like the 2014 Chateau Pape Clement, but they are worth the search.
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:
Available in France Only
2015 Chateau Le Caillou, Pomerol – Score: A- (will be here eventually)
WOW! This wine was released early, like 6 months early, this was not a barrel sample wine. Lovely nose of mineral and black currant with crazy mushroom and dirt. Nice medium body, with enough complexity, though nice but a drop hollow, with good fruit focus and nice acid, showing great mineral and terroir, with dark cherry and draping tannin. The finish is long and green with foliage and coffee, nice saline and acid, and earth. Drink by 2021.
2015 Chateau Pouyanne Red – Score: B+
Very interesting nose, almost tropical, juicy tart red guava notes, with strawberry, showing dark fruit, with accessible notes of cherry and sweet fruit notes. Nice medium body with a simple attack, but nice tannin and extraction, with earth and mushroom and green notes. Drink now.
2014 Barons Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild – Score: A- (will be here eventually)
This wine is a lovely fruit and herb driven wine, very spicy, with cloves and all-spice, showing black fruit and herb. Very different mouth with spice, but you can see where this wine will look like the older brothers with time, showing a full body with crazy spice and searing tannin, a mineral core of graphite, and spice with great acid balance, black and red fruit with time showing a draping tannin velvet. The finish is long and herb, with chocolate, leather, tar, and smoke.
2014 Chateau Marsac Seguineau, Margaux – Score: A- to A
Lovely rich black fruit, so young with crazy mineral, saline, with mushroom and hints of barnyard, with crazy elegance and green note that are in your face, more than I expected, but epic elegance. The mouth is layered and extracted and crazy good and rich acid, with blackberry, ripe currant, with layers of elegance and complexity, showing draping tannin that dries the mouth, rich and epic, mineral takes center stage with spice galore, wow. Long and crazy dry finish, ripping acid, mounds of mineral, rich leather, tobacco leaf, espresso, and rich saline, with lots of foliage lingering long. Bravo! Drink 2020 till 2030. Read the rest of this entry
Rosh Hashanah 2010/5771 – Friday Night
To start, Friday Night was not Rosh Hashanah; I just put Rosh Hashanah in the title of this blog posting because it came right after it, and to be true I could not come up with a better title 🙂 There were six meals in total eaten during the three day holiday time, and we had guests for two of them and ate in for the rest. It all started with the wonderful meal and get together on Wednesday Night, as described in my previous post. The next meal we had with guests was on Friday Night. Sandwiched in between them were three meals on our own, where I enjoyed wine from the first night. Thursday and Friday afternoon we enjoyed brie, fresh vine ripe tomatoes, and avocado. Thursday Night we had some more simanim, along with a sneak peek of Friday Night’s main course, along with some Roasted Fresh Green Beans, sliced onions, and a fresh salad.
Friday Night started with Lox and Boiled Eggs, along with Benyoganoush. Benyoganoush is Benyamin Cantz spin on Babaganoush. I call it a spin, because until we enjoyed the dish at Benyamin’s house, we were used to only store bought Babaganoush that is normally roasted eggplant submerged in a pool of mayonnaise – Yuk! However, Benyamin taught us that the recipe is truly as simple as it comes! The main course consisted of Tri-Sausage Stew, Brown Rice, Parve Spinach Kugel/Soufflé, and a fresh green salad. The Tri-Sausage stew consisted of three different sausages, as the name suggests; 12 oz of Merguez cut into chunks, 12 oz of Italian Sausage cut into chunks, and 12 oz of Tofurkey Kielbasa sausage. The rest of the Kielbasa Stew recipe stands (pretty much).
One of our guests brought us a Bordeaux, while I struck out with a so-so to bad bottle of Segal Fusion and a not so bad bottle of Vouvray, which is a Chenin Blanc wine that turned out to be quite nice.
The meal was a joy, because we got the chance to stretch our legs from the grueling Rosh Hashanah services that were long, and well worrisome. It is after all the Day of Judgment, with Yom Kippur being the day our judgment is sealed. We sang some lovely Shabbos songs, spoke about the week’s Torah portion, and just kicked back a bit. It was a wonderful meal, with a lovely group of friends, along with nice food and wine. Again, may God seal us all for a year of life, success, joy, and health – Shana Tova and Gamar Chatima Tova!
The wine notes follow below in the order they were served:
2007 Segal Fusion (Israel, Galilee, Upper Galilee) – Score: B
The nose on this purple colored wine shows clear effects of mevushal, the nose has cooked plum, blackberry, raspberry, black fruit, loamy dirt, spice, and oak. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is spicy with black pepper, cooked blackberry, plum/prune, and dirt. The mid palate is balanced with oak, nice tannins, and tobacco. The finish is long and spicy with cooked black fruit, raspberry, loamy dirt, and licorice.
2008 Clos de Nouys Vouvray Moelleux (France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray) – Score: B++
The nose on this straw to gold colored wine is rich and honeyed, with wet grass, floral, green apple, honey, guava, pear, and citrus. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is rich with honey, floral notes, green apple, and tropical fruit. The mid palate is semi-sweet with bracing and balanced acid and orange peel. The finish is long with honey, floral notes, tropical fruit, and citrus. A nice wine that has just enough complexity to get your attention and keep it, but not for long enough. This is pairs nicely with spicy food, medium to hard cheese, and rich white sauces.
2005 Château Le Bourdieu (France, Bordeaux, Médoc) – Score: B to B+
The nose and mouth on this wine starts off very slowly and can definitely use some air, but it is also a wine that is at its peak or a bit behind it, so it is a very careful balance that you need to keep an eye out for. The nose on this browning garnet colored wine has cherry, raspberry, currant, a hint of plum, along with coffee, smoke, bell pepper, and mineral. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has raspberry, currant, plum, and cherry. The mid palate is acidic with oak, almost integrated tannin, and oak. The finish is spicy and long with mineral, acid, coffee, and vegetal notes. This is a wine that works well with light meat, chicken, and medium cheese. The wine is one that can is medium weighted with enough to get some attention, but not enough to make it worthy of must have wine. Open it an hour in advance and then start enjoying it. Also, it is really nice chilled down to about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Yarden, Galil, and Delagrave Bordeaux Wines in the Sukkah
This past weekend saw us spending time in a Sukkah with our family in Florida. Yep, pretty hot temperature, but the Sukkah is shaded and we hooked up a pair of fans (attached to a timer), so that the fans are blowing when we are in the Sukkah. The fans are on opposite sides of the Sukkah, giving us a nice cross breeze. Further, the Sukkah walls are made of crisscrossing wood slats that have hollow parts. So the combination of cross breeze fans, open walls, and mesh roof, made the Sukkah a nice place to hunker down.
We did not cook or prepare any of the food for this family occasion, though I did help with the decorating and electrical aspects of the Sukkah. Beyond that I bought the wines. I went for a simple combination of whites and reds and I was quite happy with the outcome. Still, the clear star of the holiday was the food that was magnificently prepared by my sister in-law and a few other family members. They are always so kind and courteous, fantastic hosts, with a lovely family, and a kind soul. So, before the holiday (which started on Friday Night), we made our way to Crown Wine & Spirits. There used to be a wonderfully stocked kosher wine store, called – Corks Kosher Wine Emporium, but they are gone now — just another casualty of the economic times in which we live. The selection of kosher wines was far smaller than it had been before, because of the business that was taken away by Corks. So in the end, the economy handed a double whammy to the Boca Raton kosher wine scene, by putting Corks out of business and limiting the selection at the only other purveyor left. There is a small selection of lower quality wines at the Kosher Market Place, whose owner owned Corks, but not the stuff I was looking for. The selection may be also small at Crown, but they have a nice selection still of solid wines from Israel, France, and the USA. A nice mixture of Yarden, Galil, Herzog Reserve, Herzog (plain but good for the basic meal), Herzog Selection from France, Hagafen wines, and a smattering of Alfasi wines as well. Again, a nice mixture of quality wines at all price ranges, and the prices were very reasonable. I walked out with six quality wines for less than hundred dollars, which is OK. The prices were comparable with KosherWine.com, which I use as a barometer for pricing wines at local purveyors.
The meals were out of this world. The first evening we were served Matzah Ball soup, perfect roast, salad, moist turkey, Capon, and gobs of salads and sides, pairing lovely with some of the 2007 Yarden Odem Vineyard Chardonnay, 2005 Yarden Pinot Noir, and a blue bottle of Bartenura Moscato. The next day we were served gefilite fish, heavenly cholent, Turkey and gobs more of side dishes, paired nicely with a bit of leftover Yarden Pinot Noir, Yarden Odem Chardonnay, and some 2007 Galil Cabernet Sauvignon. For Saturday night we had Matzah ball soup, an unbelievable assortment of chicken dishes, and turkey, along with many lovely sides, pairing nicely with the Galil Cabernet Sauvignon. For the second day we were served gefilte fish, veal, turkey, gobs more of sides, and a killer Sushi salad (which mimics all the components of sushi in a nice salad). To pair with all of those flavors we had a 2004 Delagrave White Bordeaux and an overkill of a 2003 Yarden Merlot.
I would like to extend my many thanks to tour lovely hosts and the rest of the family which made our stay so comfortable. Best wishes and a happy and healthy year to all. The wine notes are listed below in the order they were consumed:
2005 Yarden Pinot Noir – Score: A-
This is a wine that Daniel Rogov rates as one of Yarden’s best Pinot Noirs ever, and I was not disappointing as much as I had higher hopes for it. The wine reminds me more of the N.V. Four Gates Pinot Noir, with a touch more tannins and attitude. The nose on this dark ruby colored wine is popping with black cherry, raspberry, black plum, rich oak, and vanilla. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine (once it opens) is layered and rich with not yet integrating tannins, black plum, black cherry, and oak. The mid palate is crisp and acidic with nice tannins and oak. The finish is long with red fruit, vanilla, oak, and spice.
2007 Yarden Odem Vineyard Chardonnay – Score: A-
The nose on this dark straw with green hues wine is popping with kiwi, papaya, lemon, peach, rich oak, and violets. The mouth on this rich and full bodied wine is almost mouth coating with fruit that follows the nose. The mid palate is tight yet balanced with bright acidity, and salt water – which threw me off! The finish is long and lovely with rich oak, tropical fruit, acidity, and a bit more salt water.
2007 Galil Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: B+
The nose on this garnet colored wine has blackberry, raspberry, plum, and roasted herbs. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is concentrated with blackberry, raspberry, and plum flavors. The mid palate is acidic with nice integrated tannins. The finish is medium long with more concentrated fruit and herbs.
2004 Herzog Selection Chateau Delagrave White (blend of Sauvignon Blanc and and Semillon) – Score: B-B+
The nose on this light straw colored wine is filled with lemon, green apples, light herbal notes, and floral notes. The mouth on this light to medium bodied wine follows the nose with green apple, tropical fruit, and lemon. The mid palate is crisp with nice tart fruit. The finish is medium long with tart flavors that linger long after the wine is gone, along with green tea, and floral notes.
2003 Yarden Merlot – Score: A-
The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is popping and rich with blackberry, cherry, cranberry, green herbal notes, figs, and lovely sweet oak. The mouth on this full bodied wine is rich, layered, and complex with blackberry, cranberry, and tannins that are still lightly aggressive. The mouth is complex with layers of fruit, sweet oak, and figs. The mid palate is acidic and balanced with integrated tannins. The finish is long with rich ripe black fruit, nice tannins, sweet oak, figs, and vanilla. The wine is rich and lovely and quite a treat and can easily pair with red meats, but is overkill for the basic food groups.
Tabor Merlot and Grand Prince Bordeaux along with roasted chicken and chicken soup
This past weekend we got the chance to cook some chicken soup and roast some chicken. But the best part was cooking some Chinese and Japanese Shitake mushrooms, along with some oyster mushrooms. Sautéing the mushrooms were super easy. I cleaned them and then I sliced them thinly, while removing the stems, and then sautéed them in hot oil. The mushrooms cooked quickly and were crispy while staying meaty and nutty, really cool. We ate them all week, with rice and wheat berries.
My wife roasted some pepper and honey-roasted chicken, and I made some chicken soup. I love chicken soup, because it is so crazy easy. The way I cook my chicken soup, is to first sauté the chicken with its skin (a pound of chicken to a quart of soup), to render its fat. Once the chicken is rendered, drop in chunks of:
- Carrots
- Parsnips
- Sweet potatoes
- Potatoes
- A beet or two
- Onions
- Zucchini
- Spices and flavorings: cumin, garlic, pepper, bay leaves, sage, and lemon juice
and add water until it covers the vegetables, and cook for an hour or two. The time gives the chicken a chance to extract its goodness and share it with the rest of the vegetables into a killer soup. Anyway, the soup was awesome, and the beets gave it a red look, which was cool. Anyway, I paired it with some 2006 Tabor Merlot, which was nice for a couple of hours and then died quickly, which is unfortunate. During the day, I went to a Kiddush and they served a 2005 Grand Prince Bordeaux, which was a nice mevushal wine, but not so great overall.
Anyway, the wine notes follow below..
2006 Tabor Galil Merlot – Score: B – B+
The nose on this bright garnet colored wine is hot out of the bottle, along with raspberry, plum, cherry, and light mineral notes along with pepper. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has light coating tannins that are close to integrating with the bottle, along with cranberry, plum, and raspberry. The mid palate has light acidity with integrating tannins. The finish is nice and long with cherry and plum along with a dollop of pepper. This wine reminded me of a Four Gates Merlot for a few hours, but that ended quickly when the wine died about two to three hours after it was opened. It was nice in the beginning and got better for about two hours where it peaked, and then it crashed and burned. This wine should be drunk soon, or else you will be left with a bunch of acid and little fruit.
2005 Grand Prince Bordeaux – Score: B+
The nose on this garnet colored wine is very French with tons of mineral/earth notes, along with some black fruit, and pepper. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine starts off with soft and almost caressing tannins, but man did that change with air. The tannins exploded and they were heavy handed and far from integrating. The mouth also has blackberries, plums, and cherry. The mid palate has nice acid and tough tannins. The finish is medium long with tannin, cherry, and pepper. Not bad for a mevushal wine, and I liked it, but it is one of those classical French Bordeaux wines with little complexity and a ton of earth/mineral characteristics, that tends to overpower the fruit. In the bottle I tasted, the tannins were initially quiet, but then made their presence quite known. I think I would have given it a higher score, but its lack of balance, and limited fruit, make me pause.
Ella Valley Merlot, Four Gates Chardonnay and Merlot
We spent the weekend at the Four Gates Winery and we had a grand time. I brought a bunch of wine and Benyamin had a few wines in the ready as well. The food was awesome but I must say that once again, I brought the duds – AAHH!! The worst part of it was that I personally brought these wines back from France and had great expectations for them. Unfortunately, they were total losers. I brought a Sancerre and a Bordeaux. The only saving grace I had was the 2002 Ella Valley Vineyard Choice Merlot.
Dinner started with a lovely poached fish that was rich enough in flavor to match the Sancerre – but it was a real downer. The Sancerre tasted like it was allowed to rot and such was a quarter or more along the way to a Sauterne. After that we had lovely roasted chicken and a meat stew. The Roasted Chicken was solely coated with a spice mixture that I guessed was a combination of Curry, Cumin, Coriander, and cloves. Very nice mix. The chicken and the stew called for a wine that is highly acidic and/or powerful wine. The Bordeaux I brought was truly sad as well. Really, just a sad attempt. The other wine I brought was a hit and really nice – one of my favorites; the 2002 Ella Valley Vineyard’s Choice (VC) Merlot. Finally, the Four Gates wines were enjoyed the following day with Cholent and leftovers. A very nice affair for all.
The wine notes follow:
2002 Bokobsa Sancerre Special Reserve – Score: B-
The nose on this gold colored wine had notes of honeysuckle, grapefruit, earth, and Botrytis. The smell throws off the wine, and unfortunately carries on into the palate. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is fruity. The mid palate was mineral, while the Botrytis commanded the finish. The wine lacked crispness and focus. It was all over the place, a real shame. I had a great experience with a previous Sancerre, and was hoping for it again, but it was not to be.
2003 Château du Desert Grand Vin de Graves – Score: B-
The nose on this garnet colored wine was mineral and raspberry. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has notes of raspberry, and plum. The mid palate had nice earth tones. The finish was muddled with fruit and oak. Again, a non-focused or complex wine. I had high hopes for this one, but it was not to be.
2002 Ella Valley Vineyard’s Choice Merlot – Score: A
The nose on this opaque black colored wine is a big Merlot nose. Cassis, blackberry, and oak scream to the front. Mint, chocolate, and earthy tones follow. The mouth on this full bodied wine starts off with black plum, cassis and mint. The middle is a complex mixture of oak, black fruit, and well integrated tannins. The balanced wine’s long finish is filled with meaty texture and flavor along with chocolate, tobacco, and oak. This is a really fun wine and one that is ready to enjoy now. There was not a ton of sediment, but still keep a watch out for it. The fruit is slowing down, so drink up.
Four Gates La Rochelle Merlot 2005 – score: A-
The nose on this deep garnet colored wine is flush with blackberry, mint, asparagus, and oak. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts with blackberry fruit and black plums. The mi palate has lovely notes of acid balanced with oak. The finish is long with light tannins that have not yet integrated, and red fruit. The wine is not yet at its peak, but is still quite enjoyable now as well.
Four Gates Chardonnay 2004 – Score: A
One of the best Chardonnay out there right now. This complex yet approachable wine is a real joy. This is NOT a lightweight Chardonnay yet not a butterball like other California Chardonnays. This is what a California Chardonnay should taste like – really nice. We have tasted this in the past and it has clearly improved. The nose has gone more citrus and oaky. The mouth has really filled out and the finish goes on for miles. But the real excitement is the complexity that has appeared. The wine is far more complex in nature, with layers of oak, vegetal notes, and wonderful citrus, peach, and apricot flavors. So on to the actual tasting note now:
The nose on this electric light gold colored wine is filled with peach, apricot, and light hints of herbs, sweet oak and caramel. The mouth on this full bodied and very rich Chardonnay is packed with a complex and layered mixture of peach, apricot and citrus flavors. The mid palate is a strong crisp acid core mixed with cloves, vegetal flavors, and a slight sweetness. The finish is a long crisp and refreshing stroll with sweet wood notes as a partner. A real success. This is one of my favorite Chardonnays. The wine is crisp yet has weight at the same time, a real joy.
