Green/gold in color, clear and bright. The nose is very tight and took some time to open. With air it shows butterscotch along with peach. Full bodied. On the palate, this has a hint of sweetness along with peach and slight lemons. Long finish. This needs a bit of air at the moment so maybe hold for a year and drink for five to eight years after that. Nice on its own, this would work well with Tuna steaks.
This is a classic California Chard in style and pedigree. Golden in color, clear and bright. The nose has butter, spice, lemons and slight white flowers. Full bodied. Rich, full bodied texture. On the palate, this is round and full of fruit and structure. Lemons, slight smoke and spice. A nice backbone of acidity counters the oak nicely. Long finish. This should continue to integrate over the next ten years with the oak taking a step back. Whether to wait or not really depends on how you like your Chardonnay. This drinks well on its own and will work well with sea food but also p
Shafer is one of the stalwarts of the Napa valley and this wine seems like it has been one of the top Chards forever as well. It has always had a fair amount of oak showing and this one seemed no exception. In the past, many had way more oak, but now, this tends to show more oak than most as time have changed. Whether this is good or bad is different for every taster/drinker. Copper/gold in color. The nose has vanilla, baking spices, orange peel and slight lemon. On the palate, this has a nice oily texture. Plenty of depth. Notes of ginger with a bit or lemon peel and spice. With a
This is one of the best selling Chardonnays out there but does seems to be a love it or hate it wine. Count me as a fan. Green/gold in color, clear and bright. The nose has peach, apple and spices. Full bodied. On the palate, this has a bit of sweetness with tart grapefruits to balance it. Also some oak spices come thru. Pretty much a poster child for Napa Chard these days, but it did not seem overblown. Better on its own, though it should work well with fried foods. Drink over the next few years.
