Reviews

Very rich and opulent. You can taste how the grapes had a long season to grow enormously ripe, delivering flavors of pineapples, pears and golden mangoes. Yet the cool vintage also preserved vital acidity. A delightful young Chardonnay for drinking now with upscale fare.

This is noticeably more refined than the Chardannes though compositionally, there is a strong similarity between the two aromatic profiles. Likewise, the supporting tannins are much finer here and not surprisingly, so is the mouth feel of the appealingly voluminous medium-bodied flavors on the firm and dusty finish. Lovely if not genuinely stunning.

Rich, tannic and spicy, a classic Sonoma Zinfandel with enough elegance to pair with upscale food. It’s a little hot in alcohol and overripe, but wears it proudly, celebrating its Zinny personality with a sweet flourish. That’s characterisic of the vineyard, which is on a warm ridge within this cool appellation.

A hint of reduction along with noticeable oak influence frames the otherwise pretty floral and citrus aromas. There is reasonably good richness to the suave, round and nicely energetic flavors that display a light citrus character to the attractively dry and clean finish that delivers moderate persistence. In short, this offers solid but not special quality.

Toast, pastry and peach flavors predominate, with hints of lemon and mineral. This is vibrant and lightweight, showing intensity and persistence. Leesy aftertaste. Drink now through 2015. 407 cases made. –BS

This Cabernet is soft and herbal, good for drinking now. It’s gentle in the mouth, with rich waves of blackberries, cherries, sage and oak that finish in a flourish of spices.

Here the wood is much better integrated and only a background element on the pretty and reasonably complex nose of floral, stone, pear and floral suffused aromas. There is good richness but also better acid support to the nicely detailed, intense and balanced flavors that offer fine persistence. There is a touch of oak on the sappy and ever-so-slightly warm finish but not enough to really detract from the overall appeal. This should drink well almost immediately.

A ripe but attractively layered and perfumed nose of dark cherry and violet aromas leads to round and nicely rich middle weight flavors that possess good vibrancy on the attractively persistent finish. This is not an especially elegant Chambolle, but then Chardannes rarely is, and the tannins and mouth feel are consistent with that touch of toughness the vineyard typically displays.

Even by De Loach’s standards of enormously ripe Zinfandels, this one stands out. It’s a hydrogen bomb of a wine, fantastically rich in berries and fruits that have a slightly dried quality to them. The tannins are thick, and the alcohol seems higher and hotter than the stated 14.5% by volume. — S.H. (6/1/2012)

A distinctly ripe dark fruited nose of plum and black cherry is trimmed in distinct earth scents that carry over to the rich, round and suave flavors that possess good mid-palate concentration and a velvety mouth feel on the mocha-infused finish. This is certainly generous and attractive in its fashion but for my taste is lacks a bit of energy.