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Notes provided by http://www.nakedwines.com:
- Christina [Pallman] has made Chardonnay all around the world and even in Burgundy at the feet of the masters! She understands what this grape is really all about.
- Grown in Santa Maria Valley which is known for its cooool nights, dry climate and exceptionally long growing season so it’s perfect for making this kind of wine with intensity and elegance.
My notes:
First I would like to say do not, and I really mean DO NOT, drink this wine at room temperature or even chilled to 63 degrees. I almost had to spit it out. For the love of your taste palate be sure to serve this wine WELL chilled.
Chilling mistakes aside now… This wine has a very light, fruity and almost floral aroma to it. Scents of citrus are detected after a solid second sniff. The first thing I noticed when I tasted this wine was the way it felt on my tongue. It was very acidic and caused a slight tingle. I could definitely taste something citrusy with an apple blossomy after taste. It’s not as oaky as I am used to with a fuller bodied chardonnay.
This did better with some garlic breadsticks. This would probably be good with pasta tossed in a light garlic and olive oil sauce. Actually, I will probably use the rest of this wine in a white wine garlic sauce and toss it with angel hair pasta. Otherwise, it’s a little too acidic for my liking as far as a wine to drink.
On a scale of “this tastes like piss” to “oops, I just drank the whole bottle” I would give this a “I struggled through the first glass and forced myself to drink a second in order to give a fair appraisal.” Would I buy it again on purpose? No. Would I use it to cook with? Sure. I think it has potential as a cooking wine. I probably wouldn’t go out and buy it just for this purpose though.
Final Grade: C
Reblogged this on Kristi's Wine Notes (and sometimes beer) and commented:
***Update on this particular post from December 2012***
I don’t know if the extra 18 months of aging severely helped this wine out, or if the previous bottle was bad, or if this needed to be consumed on a warm summer night, but this is actually quite light, crisp and delightful. There was no strange tingle this time around making me think the previous bottle I had tried did not ship well. While I do agree with my previous posting that I do prefer an oakier, fuller bodied Chardonnay, I will have to note that is decent for sipping after a long day of work and class. I do have to brag a moment and mention that I spent my evening in the Johns Hopkins University Archaeological Museum seeing millennia old cuneiform tablets and then later getting to handle one as well as ancient papyrus fragments. Maybe there’s something about handling 2500 year old artifacts that made this wine taste better this evening. I’m sure the two are unrelated… But I would bump the rating up on this to maybe a B-. I’m a sucker for a good citrus undertone paired with being well chilled.