Roar, Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands

A more restrained version with the focus all on the luscious and deep fruit. Barely sweet or should I say not sour pineapple, apple. Plenty of acidity, stood up to Shrimp Creole (tomatoes). Prior vintages have been more muscular, this could be an immensely good quaffer.

Big California style but balanced enough. Very enjoyable.

Nose: Very typical Cali chard nose with navel oranges, meyer lemons, vanilla beans, and some cream notes. There is excellent depth with a rounded quality to the tones as well. Taste: Full bodied with lower acidity, but it isn't flabby. There is a creaminess to the feel with navel oranges, meyer lemons, citrus, and vanilla beans. Overall: This is an excellent Chardonnay. It's well balanced and though it's on the bigger side, it holds the style very well.

It's not an easy task to follow a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvée, and it took a couple of sips to evaluate this wine on its own terms. A little exotic on the nose with notes of pineapple. Medium to full bodied palate. Oak. Buttery. Some lemon. Nice.

Oak, lemon and stone fruits on the nose. The palate shows some oak as well which is not overbearing but I wished for more fruit intensity. It does have some nice lemony, peachy notes but it didn't pack the punch I'd hoped for. I like it but don't love it.