Hyde de Villaine, Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay

Great potential, slightly closed. Yellow aromas

2013 vintage

A well made technically, yet very disappointing wine. Other than thin hints of peach, papaya, and lime long after the finish, the wine exhibited a thin mouthfeel presenting petroleum, wax, and an over abundance of acidity, overwhelmingly lacking any vestige, if in fact if it ever existed, of interest, flavor, or complexity. This overpriced Emperor’s new clothes causes me to have misgivings and confusion regarding the laudable comments I have encountered for this wine. Caveat Emptor.

2020 vintage

Very mature and vinous, this was golden straw in colour. Savoury, spicy and oaky this had a nasty sting in the tail leaving a rather bitter aftertaste. CHP 82 pts

2009 vintage

Very concentrated! Still has a lot of potential, felt slightly closed at this stage and could potentially open up with another 2 years. Yet it shows potential for atleast a times span of 5+ years if cellared correctly. The acidity comes forward with age and shows great concentration. Aromas of yellow colour, exotic fruits, yellow apple and toffee.

2013 vintage

Polished. classic cali chard buttery nose but in a restrained way. tropical fruit and citrus, minerality, gold. really cool and balanced acidity, long finish at 13.9% it has less weight than a typical cali chard, but just as much complexity as the best.

2021 vintage

Excellent flavors of mixed citrus. Nicely balanced oak adds complexity but not overpowering. Great acid adds to long finish. This 2021 should age well.

2021 vintage

Beautiful straw color. Pronounced aromas of apple, lemon and mango. Medium alcohol. Full bodied white wine. Pronounced flavors of apple, lemon, mango and, interestingly, baking spices such as nutmeg. Long finish. A very interesting Chardonnay. Definitely not run-of-he-mill.

2020 vintage

Like drinking salted butter popcorn from a movie theatre. Without being cloying, with enough acidity on the back end to keep it fresh and want you coming back for another sip. Lemon oil, Peanut skin and toasted hazelnut. The minerality on the finish is not something you see in a lot of Californian Chards. This wine puts a smile on my face. This is a perfect example of Napa Valley Chard, this takes me back to sitting on the patio …

2020 vintage

Nose of green and yellow apples, lime, chalk and vanilla. Initially on the palate quite racy but brokadens in the mouth and finishes with vanilla, butter and ripe lemon. Still elegant for a californian chardonnay. Good stuff.

2013 vintage

Very nice. Usually at this price I’m disappointed. But not this time. Despite still being a bit young, this wine is very drinkable. I intend to shell out for a few more bottles to see how it matures and evolves over the next several years. Nonetheless, right now, it’s exceptionally well balanced and layered enough to produce a surprisingly soft yet complex, full palate pleasure. Cheers

2020 vintage

Here to report that it doesn't suck.

2020 vintage

Smelling a little bit like a nutty character to it. Rich across the mid palate.

2020 vintage

Almost neon yellow color. Opened side by side with 2009 Littorai Mays Canyon and it surpassed. Slightly herbal and stony, finishing strong and balanced of fruit (ripe), sapidity, body (medium), structure (just enough acidity and a mere touch of oak). Elegant and definitely Burgundian. Marvelous at this age- I always loved this HdV vintage and it continues to impress.

2009 vintage

Best of the World Wine Night (ex-Italy) (The csimm_M Estate) : I didn’t see this until late in the tasting when my palate and mindset had shifted more toward the reds, but this was yet another label of interest I was glad to try. Fairly similar fruit profile to the Auberts and with nice cut, but less interesting texturally, at least to me, and on the secondary notes. I feel positively toward CA chards just by avoiding excessive oak, butteriness …

2020 vintage

Memorial Day Weekend, Day 2: The Great Gatsby : Nose of ripe yellow and white fruits, fruited honey with no bitterness (surprisingly). The aromas here came off very clean. On the palate was deep ripe yellow fruits, a gentle bitterness and fresh cut grass. Another first time with this producer. Wished there was something extra here to capture my excitement. Still good though.

2020 vintage

Rounded yellow fruit, soft and generous but still with vibrant acidity.

2010 vintage

color brilliant straw, still with some green. moderately aromatic and youthful - fresh pineapple, lemon, sweet green herbs. Linear nature carries most of these notes into the palate and past the stony clean finish. Earns the description "Burgundian" - quite beautiful, not showy, seamlessly balanced. Textbook.

2009 vintage

Hundred Acre wine tasting : Blind. Perfumed and expressive. Nice and tight, good enough balance but a little too much oak in my opinion. Not bad though.

2013 vintage

Tastes of ripe golden apple, peach, almond and modest oak. Nice acidity. Lovely texture. Remarkably good for a 12 year old Cali chardonnay. Great match with tuna tartare with micro cilantro.

2010 vintage

Nose of lemon, some floral, oak well absorbed. Elegant medium weight palate. Well balanced savory herbal finish with a slight touch of wood spice. Excellent!

2013 vintage

Pale, straw-yellow. Aromas: Med(-) intensity; mature: Poached pear, Macintosh apple, crème brûlée, toasted nut, bergamot lemon. Palate: med mouthfeel, med acidity, med alcohol, med(+) finish, aromas match palate with more intense poached pear, nutmeg with great complexity.

2009 vintage

Flash note. Outstanding wine. Gold green color. Beautiful texture and nuances of carneros. Streak of acidity with lemon zest, ripe apple and a flinty minerality. Could drink bottle after bottle. Not quite as good as the 08 but I’m not complaining. Highly recommended

2013 vintage

Golden color predicts a bit of age. Sweet ripe citrus and banana on the nose. Mushroomy and rich on the palate, having weighty texture with an interplay between fruit and funky earth. Truffles.

2010 vintage

The fourth vintage of this wine I’ve bought now and this is my clear favourite. Buttery with marked acidity - Burgundian in style but with some new world flair. A lot of character and nuance. Not cheap but delivers a lot of pleasure. I see what they are trying to do here and it bodes well for future vintages.

2013 vintage

Complex, concentrated, and very nuanced, highlighting a wonderful balance of stone, citrus and tropical fruits, terroir infused minerality, and “creamy acidity”; consistently good year after year. Just keeps improving with age. Pricey, but no more so than other “grand cru” level California Chardonnays. Showing absolutely no signs of oxidation; this could easily drink well for another 2-3 years. A “biased” personal favorite.

2013 vintage

Med straw with green hue. Highly aromatic, tropically and orchard- canned pineapple, ripe jazz apples, star fruit, lemon zest, plenty of butter and button mushroom. Full bodied and rich, mouth coating malo, ripe green apple, lemon brûlée, sunny and warm vibes.

2010 vintage

As close to a traditional classic puligny as you can get from a producer outside of France. You wouldnt expect much less given the families involved here. Lacked the long finish of a good burgundy, but outstanding regardless. With that said, it's not cheap and so you could likely source better burgundy for the price, but if you do I think you've missed the point. Excellent!

2013 vintage

Light gold colored. Nose of pine, almond and butterscotch. Light toast, oak and vanilla on the palate. Medium body, silky texture and medium+ Acidity. Overall great expression of California Chardonnay!

2013 vintage

Corked :-(

2010 vintage

buttery smooth

2010 vintage

Big and rich and round, maybe I could use a bit more definition on it.

2013 vintage

Dried apricot nose. The fruit initially is a bit rich, slightly riper style. Got more chalky sense after opening for one hour, not much oak on palate, unusual for Napa Chardonnay, probably due to the wine making style and the background of the winery.

2009 vintage

Fairly classic, mid-weight, balanced with the typical Chardonnay notes. But for me it just lacks either punch or complexity. I’d go for exapmle for the Shibumi Knoll Chardonnay over this any day of the year

2009 vintage

Til tross for DRC-linken er vi fortsatt veldig i California her (ikke så rart, isolert sett): Voldsom intensitet i frukten, kompleksitet indikerer mange gode år foran seg. Likevel en bortimot helt perfekt blandings mellom amerikansk frukt og fylde og burgundsk eleganse, balanse og lengde. Hadde jeg hatt den i egen kjeller hadde jeg venta fem år på neste, men drikker godt også nå.

2013 vintage

Fun to have this alongside a '14 Leflaive Macon - Verze tonight for dramatic contrast. Where this has a Burgundian touch the Leflaive is unmistakably, the real deal. Tonight this was richer, broader and more fruited then the focused minerally Leflaive. I really loved both wines for their differences. This wine has a range of stone fruit, along with orange zest, lime and spicey flavors on a mid weight but balanced and energetic frame. A very fun CA Chard that …

2013 vintage

Frenchies at St. Gen (St. Genevieve, Mpls, MN) : Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over 40 minutes. Don't think I've had on e of these before. Very nice, striding closer to Cali than Burgundy, but a nice balance of styles. The fruits are plentiful with apple, pear and stone fruits, very bright with good depth and a nice wood profile.

2013 vintage

Archetypal California Chardonnay. If your a fan of the big CA style, you'll love this, if your not, you should skip it! One of my personal favorites year after year.

2013 vintage

The wine looks yellow gold colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like cantaloupe, vanilla and peach blossom. It tastes like oak and vanilla. The body is medium/full. The wine has silky texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has low acidity. This wine will hold another 2 years at least.

2010 vintage

Crispa and mineral, but also big fruited on the nose. Palate is ultra fine and harmonious. That is really darn good. Rides the acidity to a long conclusion.

2013 vintage

Young wine. Great nose. Corn, dusty, oak, apple and sweet flowers. Powerful palate, very tasty. It's not as good as the great Burgundian Chardonnays. Long finish and a very good wine. Better on day two which shows in a more expressive nose with minerality.

2013 vintage

Ripe nectarine balanced by acidity and minerals. Very pleasing. Nice medium weight for a Chardonnay.

2009 vintage

A richer chardonnay than I typically gravitate toward, but its fruit is nicely balanced, a nice minerally aspect to it that moderates oak (not at all harsh or hot) that I normally don't respond to. Worked quite well with a smoked salmon cream sauce pasta.

2010 vintage

Like prior vintages of HdV Chardonnays, this was absolutely outstanding. Always elegant, classy, and top notch. Worked perfectly with baked stuffed scallops and pesto penne pasta.

2013 vintage

Really good... would buy again.

2010 vintage

Could use some more age ( indeed!) and some decanting. Had a bit of fizz to start but that went away pretty fast with a bit of swirling. Creamy oaky feel from nose to mouth.Lactic feel really. 14.5% Alc and on the toppish side given the overall structure of the wine. We would have expected a bit more restrain given the pedigree. A good wine but not for the faint hearted! 90-91

2010 vintage

Full body and dry

2013 vintage

Coche dinner : Appearance was clear, pale, lemon. On the nose, clean, medium+ intensity with aromas of citrus, green fruits, stone fruits, with hints of flowers and subtle sweet spice, toast and butter. On the palate, dry, medium+ acidity, medium to full bodied with flavours of green fruits, stone fruits, melon, apple and pear. Medium+ finish. This new world Chardonnay deserved some credit for putting up a good fight with the old world Burgundies. Very good quality.

2010 vintage

Whites that rival Coche : Oaky ripe on the nose and very ripe on the palate. New world oak prominent.

2010 vintage

Lovely. Crowd pleaser, both for sophisticated palates and others.

2010 vintage

White flowers, creamy, forward oak. Reminds me of some Kistlers.

2010 vintage

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Hyde de Villaine, Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay

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