Rochioli, Chardonnay River Block, Russian River Valley

Light bright gold. lemon and a hint of clove. Huge on the palate. Definitely larger styled Cali chard with a touch of heat that is only eclipsed by the fruit. Not an “elegant” wine, but quite nice if you like the style. I worry that the sheer richness could get tiresome.

Late night CNY drinks at Maison Dakota. Drank in Gabriel Standart. Appearance is clear, pale intensity, yellow gold colour. Legs. Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of baked apples, white peach, minerality, integrated toast oak. Develope.d On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium+ alcohol (14.5%), medium+ body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of baked apple, white peach, citrus lemon, wet stony minerality, integrated toast oak. Long sweet finish. Very good quality, but perhaps not as amazing as the experience …

Vinetasters: Northern California family-owned chardonnays and pinots (Skokie, IL) : Served double blind. Mild reduction on the nose. Crazy intense note of kettle corn, both in terms of how popcorny the oak is and how sweet this wine is. On the finish, the oak is mercifully not bitter, but overall the wine lacks the freshness required in chardonnay. My 6th, group's 5th.

PnP. Starts with grapefruit, apple, lime, cedar, butterscotch and nutmeg. Similar flavors with the apple and lime up front. Cedar and butterscotch show up. Well balanced with medium body and smooth finish. Last bottle.

PnP. Starts with aromas of grapefruit, apple, lime, cedar, butterscotch and nutmeg. Similar flavors with the apple and lime up front. Cedar and butterscotch show up. Well balanced with medium body and smooth finish. While not overly complex, very enjoyable.

Not sure about this one. Opened this last night and got some funk on the palate and the nose (cork taint?). My wife simply loved the wine, and I picked up some caramel and butterscotch on the palate, but the funk never seemed to blow off. Disappointed in the experience, but still looking forward to the last bottle of this vintage in the cellar.

Beautiful Chardonnay - almost citrussy. Lovely balance. This has plenty of life left.

Rich, delicious citrus fruit with sweet oak, mineral, and vanillin flavors, excellent structure, long finish, River Block is second to Rachael’s for Rochioli Chardonnay

Delicious, rich citrus fruit with mineral flavors, excellent structure, very restrained, ample finish, beautiful wine, Richioli Chardonnay is of the three best California Chardonnays: Marcassin, Aubert, and Richioli. It doesn’t get any better.

Straw yellow. Great nose of grapefruit, apple, lime, cedar and nutmeg. similar flavors. well balanced with medium body and smooth finish.

Rich chardonnay; excellent depth, even finish; much bigger than the russian river

Very nice, solid Chard. No flaws. Lovely nose, pale yellow.

Clear light golden colored looking much like a white burgundy, citrus nose and full in mid-palate with a long finish. It's far less butterscotch/popcorn than an Aubert, and it's still full-bodied and satisfying. This will improve with some time in the bottle, but I couldn't resist trying it now.

Rochioli winery visit. Appearance is clear, pale intensity, lemon colour. Legs. Nos is clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of light butter toast, nuts, citrus lemon. Developing. On the palate, dry high acidity, medium+ alcohol (14.5%), medium+ body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of honey butter nuts that are so damm well integrated, ripe citrus lemon, sweet yellow apple, ripe peach. Long finish. Very good quality. Extremely balanced and the elements are already so well integrated and gelled together so well …

Deep turning to dark gold. Marmalade, chamomile, butterscotch, and mountain flower aromas are easy to coax out but unfortunately fade with relatively little air exposure. Manages to convey a rich yet restrained character on the palate, with a combination of gently oxidative notes and minerality that brings to mind some barrel-raised Chenin-based wines. Perhaps this was better younger, but it has retained a lot of character and grace in its old (for the genre) age.

1995, 1996, 1997 Chardonnay (Walnut Creek, Ca.) : Smokey Fume nose, smoky taste, almost woody taste, light body, delicate smoky finish. My #9 of 9.