A beautiful Chardonnay, and one that easily overshadowed the 2011 Chardonnay tasted next to it. The 2012 Damiana had lovely flavors of silky and creamy vanilla bean, lemon curd, poached pear,…
A nice and straightforward Chardonnay, with some lemon citrus, butter, and vanilla. Not over the top in its modern style and quite friendly on the approach and through the mid-palate. A bit simple,…
Overtly candied lemon drop and sweet vanilla notes pummeled the heck out of any finesse this wine had hopes of producing. It had an almost vanilla Schnapps aftertaste, with the oak influence…
Same as my notes from the day before. This was tasted alongside the 2014 Ingrid's Chardonnay, which was a fuller-bodied wine; however, the Rosella's had a little more complexity and delineation of…
A good Chardonnay, but far overshadowed by the Ingrid's and Rosella's tasted alongside it. Because of the competition, the Sierra Mar was forgettable. It was decently crafted, but I honest to God…
A very well put together modern California Chardonnay. The round butterscotch, popcorn, and vanilla bean notes worked well with the core yellow citrus fruits. A hair less complex than the 2014…
A pleasantly surprising wine, with the attractive verve and tension from the lemon and citrus fruit flavors nicely intermixed with some vanilla bean and lightly buttered oak influences. Very good…
A good late summer sipper type of a Chardonnay. Your basic lemon and yellow citrus flavors, with some apple, vanilla, and light alkaline notes. Paired fine with some sharper hard cheeses. Nothing I'd…
A decent run-of-the-mill restaurant dinner type of Chardonnay. A lot of oak influence and not much distinguishing characteristics outside of the buttered popcorn, vanilla, and rich, round citrus…
Same as four months ago. PnP and served around 54 degrees. Drink now and over the next year or so. Ready right now. Drinks WAY above its original allocation price point ($25). 92-93 points.
I hadn't tasted this wine since its release a few years ago. Back then, I especially loved the lemon curd and mineral notes that raced across the palate. This go-around, it seemed like the fruit was…
Still a solid version of a Jura-style Chardonnay, but starting its decline. Not as vibrant as 10 months ago when I last had this wine. 93-94 points. The 2008 is much better at this stage.
Paired with a sweet corn grits with prosciutto; also paired with homemade bread with salted butter. The corn dish was one of my favorites of the evening. The wine was well crafted, but unfortunately…
Unfortunately a very confusing wine for me. Threw off a lot of sediment and was extremely bitter. The prominent bite clamped down on any discernible flavors, making for a totally muted and flavorless…
Reminding me of an elevated version of the 2015 Tor Hyde Chardonnay, the Torchiana had a nice pop of minerality and salinity to frame the yellow citrus, lemon, white peach, and some oaky vanillin…
A fat and stylized California Chardonnay, with buttered popcorn, vanilla oak, and lemon curd notes rushing over the palate. A bit of a bruiser with its butter-bomb, cheesy sex kitten personality,…
Yellow citrus, light lemon oil, and some minerality all come together fairly nicely in this Chardonnay. Went down easy and was a good start to the afternoon tasting. Nothing too vivacious or overtly…
The proverbial California Chardonnay. Rich, buttery, oaky, and popcorn-laced. A bit oily (which I actually liked), but certainly lacked complexity and some delineation of flavors; overshadowed by the…
Same as my December 2015 notes, except that I found this to be even more humdrum than last time. The fruit has faded even more so than I remember from 9 months ago.
PnP with notes of lemon citrus, pear, popcorn, and a bit of vanilla. Straightforward and simple, but a pleasant drink nonetheless. Air didn't change this much. In the end, a little humdrum.
What I consider a "typical" low-mid range, mass produced California Chardonnay. Round, butter, vanilla, wood, and ripe yellow citrus flavors. One-note and simple, with no surprises up its sleeve.
After taking some time to really treat this wine right, it indeed opened up into something nice. Impeccably balanced, impressive texture, and a notable finish. Everything was certainly "in balance,"…
