Chalone Chardonnay Estate 2005

I served this at Thanksgiving and without prompting from me, everyone asked what brand of Chardonnay it was. It's rich with flavor, smooth, butter, just the right amount of oak and perfect if you like California style Chardonnay.

January 2009

One of my weeknight standbys. Crisp and refreshing. Not very complex, but still quite tasty.

November 2007

Grown entirely at our estate vineyard, the 2003 Chardonnay is an extremely fine and delicate wine with aromas of stone fruit and brioche. Ten months of sur lie aging in 100 percent French oak barrels gives texture and imparts complex aromas of vanilla and hazelnut. As is typical of Chalone Vineyard Chardonnay, the acidity is firm and bright and the wine possesses gobs of minerality from our unique limestone site. I like to call Chalone Vineyard Chardonnay the white wine for red wine drinkers. Its rich flavors, distinctive minerality and crisp acidity make it a versatile wine to complement rich, read more...robust dishes such as pasta in cream sauces, roasted salmon, grilled chicken breast and pork chops.    (hide)

Chalone’s Estate Chardonnay is one of the few wines I can pick out in a crowd (and I’ve done so in several blind tastings) because its minerality is so distinctive. The wine hails from a site at 1,800 feet in the Gavilan Mountains, on the eastern edge of Monterey County. The climate is extreme: Hot days, cold nights and very little rainfall. Grapes couldn’t be grown there in most years without irrigation. With that climate and the area’s limestone soils, the Chalone AVA has more in common with the Mount Harlan appellation in neighboring San Benito County than it does with the rest of Monterey. read more...My one complaint about Chalone’s Chardonnay in some years has been that it’s simply too ripe, with some alcoholic heat. But this version from the relatively wet 2005 vintage shows considerably more restraint. The wine, which sells for $25, displays racy lemon, pear and apple flavors along with that trademark minerality. There’s some oak, but it’s mostly a background note for this intensely flavorful wine. It’s a Chardonnay that’s built for some aging (the winery suggests three to seven years), but you’ll be tempted to drink it now with pan-roasted salmon or shrimp scampi.    (hide)

Good oak and peach flavors, but the alcohol overpowers the taste for me. Good bouquet as well. Served with chicken in lime-butter sauce; did not complement the citrus in the sauce--too much acidity. I think probably some aging would help.

February 2009

Chalone’s Estate Chardonnay is one of the few wines I can pick out in a crowd (and I’ve done so in several blind tastings) because its minerality is so distinctive. The wine hails from a site at 1,800 feet in the Gavilan Mountains, on the eastern edge of Monterey County. The climate is extreme: Hot days, cold nights and very little rainfall. Grapes couldn’t be grown there in most years without irrigation. With that climate and the area’s limestone soils, the Chalone AVA has more in common with the Mount Harlan appellation in neighboring San Benito County than it does with the rest of Monterey. read more... My one complaint about Chalone’s Chardonnay in some years has been that it’s simply too ripe, with some alcoholic heat. But this version from the relatively wet 2005 vintage shows considerably more restraint. The wine, which sells for $25, displays racy lemon, pear and apple flavors along with that trademark minerality. There’s some oak, but it’s mostly a background note for this intensely flavorful wine. It’s a Chardonnay that’s built for some aging (the winery suggests three to seven years), but you’ll be tempted to drink it now with pan-roasted salmon or shrimp scampi.    (hide)

October 2008