"Cwdjrx _" > wrote in message
...

> Mount Eden and Au Bon Climat are among the very few California firms
> that can produce a Chardonnay that can improve for over 10 years.

A few years ago I tasted a Raymond Chardonnay that had to be a decade older
than the two Mount Eden wines you mentioned. It was still solidly at
plateau, and gave no hint that it was well over 20 years old. Obviously it
had been well cellared, but even so it was pretty old for a dry white wine.

I'm sorry I don't remember the exact vintage, but that wine showed me that
at least _some_ California whites are capable of extended aging.

Tom S