Ferren, Lancel Creek Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast

Balanced now. It’s not as showy as silver eagle, but the balance was seriously good now. Overall, Silver eagle should be the flagship, Lancel creek is the most balanced one, and Frei Road is the one chasing after these two single vineyards.

Yeah Baby! This is fantastic juice. Checks all the boxes for CA Chard.

See my previous tasting note for this bottling. Quite similar, although the additional bottle age has given this a bit more elegance and less flamboyance (relative to its more youthful drinking).

This was SO good. I am a bit shocked I liked this - and that I liked it SO much. I am often put off by big CA Chards. I am rather sensitive to oak. And yet... I found this simply irresistible. The nose was truly intoxicating. Oak was noticeable for sure, but somehow I was not bothered by it at all. The fruit managed to balance out the oak. On top of buttered popcorn (which I typically hate), there …

This juice is absolutely fantastic. Served at slightly below room temperature, it pours a light, straw golden color with very long legs, no doubt because of the high alcohol content in the wine. On the nose, the bouquet is quite fragrant, but there is a restraint to it to keep it from being an overpowering oak fiend. The nose consists of marmalade, sugarcane water, buttered popcorn, caramel, roasted pineapples and wet stones. The nose really reminds me of a "hotter" …

Duck Four Ways at The Spread in Norwalk (The Spread in South Norwalk) : This has a striking resemblance to Marcassin. Nose of orange marmalade, hazelnut, marshmallow and wet stone. Flavors of mango, papaya, lemon meringue and some mineral thrown in. Ends with a beautiful 40 second finish. First time having Ferren and really impressed. Even better than the Arista Chard's I tried in Cali in August. What a way to start off a tasting.

Still my least favorite Ferren is better than most Chardonnays. Pineapple butter flavor but long smooth finish.

The pinot from silver eagle was off the chain delicious. This has nice balance and fruit, with pineapple and butter notes dominating. I'm sure that people who rate wine will note a "brioche" flavor here. It's not my favorite of the best wines because the pineapple-butter combo doesn't work as well for me. The oak flavor is very fine.