Genuinely mystified by the fervence of critical praise for this wine. Not that it isn't well made, obviously the fruit was beautifully ripe and the winemaking carefully managed. But good lord in heaven this is an inarguably profligate application of oak. It's a shame, really. The wine has wonderful freshness and lemony zip for its size, but all of that is almost wholly subsumed by what's obviously some pretty heavily toasted oak. Smoke, pralines, browned butter, and vanillin all but obscure the natural character of the fruit. I dunno, given the wine's solid core of acidity and considerable dry extract, I suppose it's possible some of this wood character might integrate with time, but honestly I wouldn't hold my breath
Genuinely mystified by the fervence of critical praise for this wine. Not that it isn't well made, obviously the fruit was beautifully ripe and the winemaking carefully managed. But good lord in heaven this is an inarguably profligate application of oak. It's a shame, really. The wine has wonderful freshness and lemony zip for its size, but all of that is almost wholly subsumed by what's obviously some pretty heavily toasted oak. Smoke, pralines, browned butter, and vanillin all but obscure the natural character of the fruit. I dunno, given the wine's solid core of acidity and considerable dry extract, I suppose it's possible some of this wood character might integrate with time, but honestly I wouldn't hold my breath
Jan 17th, 2019
Napa Valley, California, USA
