I love it when someone proves your humble correspondent wrong. I mean it. Indeed, I loved every last sip of it as I dug into three new California Chardonnays that virtually destroyed the conventional wisdom.
Or perhaps I should just say that my perception — that California Chardonnays in general are fat, flabby and boring — requires a bit of tweaking. So to the list that includes Sonoma Cutrer, Kistler, Gary Farrell, Bouchaine and Franciscan add Nickel & Nickel, the single-vineyard specialist that sprang from Far Niente.
These are all California producers that make Chardonnay with superb structure, balance and personality. The three Nickel & Nickel beauties I tasted last week — Medina Vineyard, Searby Vineyard and Truchard Vineyard — are impressive examples of non-interventionist winemaking and slavish devotion to the concept of terroir, allowing each vineyard to express its uniqueness through its wine. These wines also bode well for the 2005 vintage.
Searby and Medina are both located in the Russian River Valley and impart a similar minerality and steely structure, though the Searby Chardonnay was clearly the more intense and powerful of the two. The Medina was deliciously delicate and provided a floral note that was not evident in the Searby.
Truchard, located in the Carneros region of the Napa Valley, was a complete contrast, delivering a weightier wine with less minerality and an oily texture that screamed Napa Valley, but cut with firm acidity that lifted the fruit.
These are not inexpensive Chardonnays (all come in at $43 suggested retail) but they are certainly less than I would expect to pay for some of the finest California Chardonnay I’ve ever tasted!
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