Surprise - Chardonnays for the new year!
Happy New Year! Start your year off by rounding up a vertical tasting of Beringer Private Reserve Napa Chardonnay. How’s that for a surprise opening? I receive so many requests for Chardonnay recommendations, over the year, this column would turn into Chardonnay corner if I responded to all of them. So, I decided to close out the year with a few ideas. After all, Chardonnay, as a varietal type, is by far the No. 1 seller worldwide. Probably the most consistent quality chardonnay, at one of the best QPRs, is the Beringer Private Reserve Napa. Everyone knows all about the PR Cabs, and most are willing to shell out $100/bottle for them. Apparently few are aware Beringer PR Chards are sourced from Gamble Ranch, Beringer’s most northern vineyard, in the Oakville AVA. Going back to at least 1994, these come on under $25 with ratings above 90 and usually increase in value and quality over the next two to six years.
The 2013s are selling in the under-$25/bottle range. Pale golden, with a very slight green cast, they open to smoky oak, butterscotch and pineapple aromas with hints of vanilla and barrel spice. Fruit/acid balance is superb with the medium, buttery body carrying more tropical fruit and some toast. This is a wonderful lobster wine and pairs well with cream sauces and soups as well. Galloni said 94, Tanzer 92. Ask your wine shop pals to round up a case of 3 each of 2010-13. Be sure to allow some time for them to do the work, but this is very doable.
OK, so you want to show off a little and Beringer PR Chards are too pedestrian to pique the fancy of your upscale pals, and Marcassin, Hobbs, Aubert, Kapscandy, Ramey and Boswell are impossible to find or too darn expensive. Take a look at Stonestreet Alexander Mountain Chardonnay Upper Barn 2012. It is produced from Chardonnay grown on the Upper Barn vineyard that helped establish Helen Turley’s wine chops. No disrespect to Ms. Turley, who is a remarkable scientist, viticulturalist, vintner and one of those few who brought women into the supremacy they are now enjoying in the wine industry. Turley didn’t just break the glass ceiling; she crashed through gloriously with a series of wonderful terroir-specific wines that completely expressed her understanding of terroir and how to plant, propagate and manipulate grapes for their best growth, extraction, vinification and cellaring to gain the best end product from a specific location. Her own label: Marcassin 2010 Chard $275, the 2008, 100 points $495. That’s per bottle, mates. Check out this moving graphic of the mountainous region in the Mayacamus where many of these fabled wineries are located. The graphics are terrific: http://stonestreetwines.com/the-story/mountain-map.
The Stonestreet Upper Barn 2012 garnered a remarkable 96 points from Tanzer. This guy is my best expert on Sonoma, especially the Chardonnay and Cabs. As I have mentioned on several occasions, he is the Scrooge McDuck of point awarding. So, when he waxes eloquent, I’m a buyer. (RP 97) Tanzer’s write-up of Upper Barn is too eloquent for me to top, so here it is: “Bright medium yellow. Brilliantly pure aromas and flavors of ripe peach, green melon, soft citrus fruit and brown spices are complicated by a subtle leesy quality. Hugely rich, pliant and sweet but with harmonious acidity and an impression of dusty extract framing the wine’s almost exotic fruit. This is bigger than most red wines but not at all over the top. The wonderfully tactile, youthful finish features outstanding palate-drenching length. Exceptional chardonnay.” These are a great buy up to $70.
The 2011 are just about as good. I rate them 95 at $55, an excellent QPR. These pour very pale golden-colored. The bouquet is lovely, filled with apricot, gravel, pie spice and lavender aromas. Rich, round palate with prolific crisp acidic offset. I was surprised at the lack of oaken aromas and on the palate because winery notes claimed 50 percent new oak was employed. These really improved after time in the glass. Do not serve cold; 60 degrees seemed best. Buy under $60 or go to the 2012. So once again, happy healthy, successful, peaceful, bright new 2016 to you.
Email John McDonald at chjonmc@yahoo.
