I guess I should introduce you to my daily driver now. I mentioned a while ago that there are wines I’ve liked, and there are wines that have gotten me into wine. This one was my first. Deduct as many sentimentality points as you need to from the final score – I’m honestly worried I’m gonna go Suckling on this one:
Once you start looking for this bottle, you will start seeing it everywhere. Seeing it has felt like a life hack – I’m never too far away it, and neither are you.
In the glass, it’s not the yellowest chard. It’s pale, but has the slightest tinge of a green tint too. It’s not cloudy, but light seems to softly diffuse through it. When the swirl starts breaking down on the rim, it leaves these branch-like structures, creating a serrated-looking effect.
On the nose, the oak is pronounced, but there’s a soft flush of stone fruit to round it out – there’s something in there that creates a matcha-like finish to me. There’s also this undertone to it where you feel the scent more than you smell it. It’s not the subtlest whiff, but it is muted – muted enough to where I feel like I’m huffing it to take it all in.
On the palate, it’s sensational. Leads with oak again, the stone fruit sharpens its focus and lets peach break through, and as the oak returns to carry you out of the sip, it finishes with the cleanest mineral note to tie the whole thing together. It’s the best of what I admire about this terroir.
It gets all this right while still remaining scrappy – it doesn’t feel like someone spent too much time polishing it. It just tastes like a winning product made from winning grapes grown in winning soil. It’s a miracle to me that something this nice can be this ubiquitous and accessible.
Final note: these are all superlatives I’d attach to the 2022 vintage. 2020, 2021, and 2023 are all good in their own ways, but always opt for a 2022 wherever you can find one. Maybe you can live my dream and set up the world’s most obnoxious vertical!
91/100 – A-
$10.99
ABV: 14%
GRAPES: 100% Chardonnay
NOSE: Oak, stone fruit, tea leaves
PALATE: Oak, peach, mineral
CoO: United States
by PrestigiousAd9825
3 Comments
For the price and it’s availability I don’t mind it, however, I can taste the hangover I get from drinking it
Impressive write up for this wine. I appreciate your appreciation for it.
Always have heard mixed reviews from working people in the industry from this brand, but I’m willing to finally give it a try considering one thing: the price. In my neck of the woods their Riesling is the most appraised.