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TN 89 & 90 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays
These are Santa Cruz Mountain Chardonnays from the Mount Eden Estate.
This property has a very complicated history of owners and winemakers, and a least part of it was planted by Martin Ray before he lost it in legal battles. There can be extreme variations in many Santa Cruz Mountain wines from year to year. When everything is right, Mount Eden can produce one of the top Chardonnys of California. Other years produced somewhat unbalanced, overpriced wines. The 1989 is now rather full golden. It has considerable fruit still, but too much oak is showing through and it is a bit flat and heavy. It was better a few years ago, but not one of Mount Eden's better efforts. On the other hand, the 1990 is one of the best California Chardonnays I have had in a long time. It is still quite fresh and probably will hold well for several more years. It is a rather light lemon color. There is refined fruit with hints of white peaches and apricots. There is enough acid, not too much oak, and everything is in perfect balance. It is as close to a top Puligny Montrachet as I have seen from California. It is a pity that Mount Eden can not make a wine such as this most of the time. 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. I have found Au Bon Climat to be considerably more consistent in their reserve Chardonnays. However, when conditions are right, Mount Eden can produce a wine as good or better than Au Bon Climat, in a different sort of way. I find a top Mount Eden to be more Puligny-Montrachet-like, while a top Au Bon Climat tends to be more Corton-Charlemagne-like, with more mineral character. Both often need several years of age and may not show well when tasted young if you do not know how these wines can develop. My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase from my email address. Then add . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response. |
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TN 89 & 90 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays
"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 |
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TN 89 & 90 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays
Tom S wrote:
> 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. Raymond California Chardonnay in the late 70s and early 80s was very popular. It was a California blend and they must have gotten it right, sorta like Kendall Jackson did a few years later. I see no reason in the world why it would age well since it was never meant to be much right from the start. |
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TN 89 & 90 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays
Another Cal Chard that can age very well is Chalone. Two years ago I
had the 1980, and it was gorgeous, having evolved a honeyed richness that was quite delicious. Last week, had the 1996. Still very lively and youthful. Cheers, Marc "Tom S" > wrote in message .com>... > "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 |
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TN 89 & 90 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays
Tom mentioned a Raymond Chardonnay. I think I may have tasted a Raymond
Chardonnay or two many years ago, but I never tasted one that had been aged for an extended time. Raymond did make one very unusual wine.It was Napa Valley Late Harvest Riesling 1978. It had 25% residual sugar. I liked some of the late harvest Rieslings from Ch. St Jean and Joseph Phelps from this era, and early on liked them better than the mentioned Raymond. Since I still have 2 half-bottles of the Raymond, I will have to check it sometime to see how it has held up. My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase from my email address. Then add . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response. |
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TN 89 & 90 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays
Bill says,
> >Raymond California Chardonnay in the late 70s and early 80s was very >popular. It was a California blend and they must have gotten it right, >sorta like Kendall Jackson did a few years later. I see no reason in >the world why it would age well since it was never meant to be much >right from the start. > Your experience with Raymond is obviously somewhat more focused than mine, but I have a few doubts about your recollections of early Raymond chardonnays. In fairness, I think we need to ask, of which period are we speaking? I live in a little neighborhood on the north side of Zinfandel Lane, (Raymond Winery being on the south side of the road), and my wife and I often take our summer evening walks by their vineyards. I knew Walt Raymond many years ago, (though he probably wouldn't remember me now), and over the years I have known some of their winemakers. The Raymond brothers are honest guys, straight-shooters. True farmers can be somewhat confused by success, and when success came for these brothers, they chose to expand, beyond the natural limitations of super-premium quality winemaking. Raymond was a phenomenon in the early 1980s with their chardonnays. They were honest wines, not the residual-sugar monsters coming at the time from Kendall-Jackson. The early Raymond wines should be very age-worthy. Raymond chardonnay circa 1981 or so was well-structured and competent, with no pretensions, much like the honest, early cabernet vintages of their neighbor, Charley Wagner, of Caymus. Then success entered onto the scene. In the early 1980s, Raymond acquired a Japanese corporate partner with cash. They bought vineyards in Lake County, which has no similarities whatsoever with Napa terroir and climate, especially for chardonnay; and they pumped up the volume. All the time, however, I think they made an honest wine--a wine which could be appreciated in "serious" circles. It wasn't like Jess Jackson, or the Benziger brothers, who pumped out millions of cases of Kendall-Jackson "Private Reserve", or Glen Ellen "Private Reserve", 2-fer-$5 dollars (with the folksy, Bartles & James homespun labels). Anyway, I think that often the most ageworthy chardonnays are those which have NOT been manipulated with all of that "sur-lie", new oak barrel stuff. Riesling is the most ageworthy "dry" white there is. Chardonnay can be the same, if it's not mucked up with complicated cellar regimens. I think that early Raymond chardonnays, while simple by comparison with, say, Kistler (a totally "Burgundian", processed wine), can be a delight. Which is also why I admire Stony Hill, Grgich, Sonoma-Cutrer and Chateau Montelena. And many Oregon and East Coast chardonnays. Raymond USED to be in that category. Frankly, I don't know anymore. When their fruit sourcing enlarged geographically and changed, they got carried away with success. So, to return to your argument: YES, some of the early (I mean, early) Raymond wines are FAR better in old age than what you're likely to find in later years, or today. But who the hell cares about age? My palate over the past ten years has approached the point where I only like young wines---white AND red. [to say nothing of Britney Spears; AHEM] Some of the best reds I've ever tasted are barrel samples. If I keep going on like this, I might develop a prediliction only for wines from the press pan! Here, I've spent half a lifetime in this business, and I don't even have a desire to drink any wines from my cellar---they lack freshness and fruit ! My only appreciation for old wines now is old rieslings and sauternes (and port, of course). Other table wines should be delivered to me fresh off the bottliing line! ---Bob |
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TN 89 & 90 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays
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TN 89 & 90 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays
"RobertsonChai" > wrote in message ... > But who the hell cares about age? My palate over the past ten years has > approached the point where I only like young wines---white AND red. > > [to say nothing of Britney Spears; AHEM] Aha!, you're sooo _busted_! You're Bob Dole! ;^D Tom S |
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TN 89 & 90 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays
Mount Eden also makes the lower priced 'West Slope' label.
The 2002 West Slope Edna Ranch, Edna Valley is a good value IMO at $10 and WS 91. -jal |
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