The wine is Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Chardonnay 1992, Santa Cruz
Mountains. It was properly stored since release, and had a good cork
and very high fill.

I had a case of this at one time, but consumed most of it several years
ago. I kept back 2 bottles, and now wish I had aged more longer.
However this property has had considerable variation over the years,
and only few California Chardonnays age well for 14 years.

The wine is light yellow with a hint of green and no browning. It is
very fresh with not a hint of oxidation. It is a fairly full wine with
a bit of oak, but not excessive. There is considerable mineral and
grapefruit skin like fruit, with subtle floral notes. It has now
smoothed well, and has plenty of acid. This wine can be rather firm and
austere when young, much as Corton-Charlemagne can be. Other California
Chardonnays can be more user friendly when young, but many of them fall
apart long before 14 years old. Compared to the price of some of the
flashy, expensive early bloomers, Mount Eden Estate Chardonnay can be a
relative bargain, provided you are willing to age it. I still like the
better reserves of Au Bon Climat a bit better than Mount Eden, partly
because they seem a bit more consistent from year to year.

__________________________________

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cwdjrxyz wrote:

<SNIP>

Thanks for the very interesting notes. MEV is a frequently-overlooked
CA winery, and I am as guilty as most in overlooking it. While I am too
young to have purchased '76 TBAs and GC Burgundy on release as you did,
I could very easily have purchased this wine... and didn't. Do you or
anyone else know if they are still making their wines in this style?

Mark Lipton

Mark Lipton wrote:
> cwdjrxyz wrote:
>
> <SNIP>
>
> Thanks for the very interesting notes. MEV is a frequently-overlooked
> CA winery, and I am as guilty as most in overlooking it. While I am too
> young to have purchased '76 TBAs and GC Burgundy on release as you did,
> I could very easily have purchased this wine... and didn't. Do you or
> anyone else know if they are still making their wines in this style?


I have not had recent vintages of MEV Estate Chardonnay. The 2002 costs
about US $33 at Brown Derby, which is not cheap, but is exceeded by
quite a bit by many others. Matt Kramer, in the Oregonian, calls MEV
Estate among the best of the California Chardonnays and says MEV
Estate, with proper cool storage, can improve upwards of a decade.
Robert Parker rated the 2001 at 93/100. MEV has made other Chardonnays
from time to time, but these often are not as high a quality as the
Estate. This property has a history all the way back to when Martin Ray
owned much of what is the present vineyard. It is high up in the
Mountains with a quite cool climate which may in part explains why it
can produce Chardonnay that has plenty of acid and that can age well. I
tasted some Chardonnay that Martin Ray made there in the past. They
ranged from outstanding to awful, but that was typical of Martin Ray's
wines in general.

cwdjrxyz wrote:
> This property has a history all the way back to when Martin Ray
> owned much of what is the present vineyard. It is high up in the
> Mountains with a quite cool climate which may in part explains why it
> can produce Chardonnay that has plenty of acid and that can age well. I
> tasted some Chardonnay that Martin Ray made there in the past. They
> ranged from outstanding to awful, but that was typical of Martin Ray's
> wines in general.
>

Thanks for the information. Yes, despite Martin Ray's pioneering role in
CA, his wines were often hit-and-miss (and his personality another
matter altogether). I don't drink much CA chardonnay these days:
Grgich-Hills (a friend is on the sales force) and Ch. Montelena are the
bulk of it. I've also got to try some Stony Hill, but I'll make a
search from some MEV, too.

Mark Lipton