Chateau Potelle Chardonnay VGS Jean Noel Fourmeaux Bacigalupi Vineyard Russian River Valley

A true enjoyment to behold as the wine opened up and warmed up.

This bottle, a good 3 pts better than the last, but having said that, '20 just didn't do it for me with this high end white. It's best when pnp'd....and consumed with little air. There's creamy citrus and butterscotch at moments. There's too much of brown oaky notes at others. The vintage is rather uneven from bottle to bottle and even within bottles as air passes through them. Not unexpected given the record setting heat that summer well before the …

Somewhat disappointing, based on previous vintages. This had almost no acidity(flat), fruit was basic at best. 90 tops and maybe that's even a stretch by a point or two. Lemon zest, oak (even though I don't think there's much oak used). It's just not very exciting, but you need to take the vintage into consideration. 2020 was a crap year for Napa/Sonoma. A record setting number of days of temps over 100 degrees even before the fires hit. This one …

A nice chardonnay, but a little too smooth and not much character.

Medium yellow in color. Flavors of pineapple and guava. Moderate oak notes (80% new French, 20% stainless). Buttery, suspect 100% malo. Low acidity and minerality. Nice for a New World chard. Paired poorly with crab in a crepe plus scallops in a delicate beurre blanc -- not enough acid.