Decant this Chardonnay well in advance – if you don’t, you may note an odd bubble of fruitiness that floats through the wine and seems out of place. It is. After a long decant, the wine is spectacular and complex, with the key elements being a taut mineral stoniness with a slightly tart finish. The fruit is there – a tight appley eau-de-vie note – but the key is the long, long elegant structure. The wine would go well with food, but I would rather sip it like a fine spirit.
Haynes Vineyard, Coombsville – Napa Valley (California) Chardonnay 2021
By Roger Morris