Hyde de Villaine, Chardonnay, California

Surprised to find this wine still needs 1.5 hours of decanting. The nose opened up and flavors are fresher afterwards. Nice aroma of honey, apricot. Quite powerful. Some minerals blends in the integrated rich flavors. Finish is a bit simple but still a very good wine overall. Feels like a 89-90 wine when first opened.

2004 vintage

Pure golden color, full bodied style. Very expressive aromas of pineapple, honey dew melon, and butterscotch with faint hints of oak in the background. This wine is BIG in the mouth and after eight years shows well integrated flavors: honey, butterscotch, pineapple, melon, baked apple, vanilla, and spice. Long, long finish. If you're a fan of the big, opulent CA Chardonnay style, HdV makes a consistent, high quality product.

2004 vintage

4 years has done this wine well. Much more complex, lengthier, heavier textured, nutty, while retaining the fresh fruit and chalk of its youth. Served with S. Goin's seared halibut (my substitution) with tangerine butter and it produced one of the best pairings we've had in awhile. Great wine-food 'dialog' at multiple levels.

2004 vintage

nicely integrated oak and big california chardonnay weight with a wonderful complexity of fruit and spice. A bit sweet and soft but really nice weight and length. Preferred by our group to a really nice lemony Chassagne. I would drink these up...

2004 vintage

Lovely bottle of wine that outshined the '03 and '05. Such a great balance of CA and Burgundian styles. Judicious use of oak, lovely fruit. Still doing well and should last for at least another couple of years.

2004 vintage

Very oaky, but very good concentration. Not a distinctive wine, but well made from good fruit. Drank with spicy Indian food, which was a good pairing - I love rich Chard with spicy food.

2004 vintage

A full rich oaky chardonnay. Went well with scampi and improved thru the course.

2004 vintage

Dinner at Prime Cut Cafe (Prime Cut Cafe) : A big surprise on the evening for me, a Napa Chard with some restraint and concentration without ripeness and make up. Nose on the tight or lean side but no signs of fruitiness or butter. Nice minerally finish after a well concentrated yet not fat palate. Terrific wine for the non-Cali Chard audience and I would guess is still on the upside of its aging curve.

2004 vintage

Nice wine with good balance between richness and acidity. At this price point though, there are others I like better (Ramey, Chasseur, ...)

2004 vintage

I still find this wine over-oaked and a bit resiny. Good concentration and intensity, but more wood than fruit.

2004 vintage

Tasty, full bore and fun but in an unsubtle, over-the-top oaky kind of way. Very rich but not a lot of balance.

2004 vintage

Very nice effort. No notes taken, but I remember wishing like hell that there was more.

2004 vintage

Very complex nose, hard to deconstruct and I am not sure I want to. Honey, ripe peaches, and some tropical notes. Now mineral, flint, with wiffs of freesia. Great depth, breadth, richness, and structure in the mouth. This wine is long, and finishes more tart than one might expect from the rich smelling nose. Very nice and getting better. Will benefit from more aging, but hard to resist now!

2004 vintage

Agree that this is not giving up as much as hoped for at purchase. However, this has a very nice chalky/stone aroma that accompanies some peach/apple fruit. Just a hint of vanilla with a medium weight, slightly oily palate and light but lifting acidity. Worked well with lobster and garlic butter (where the chalk/mineral was a nice accompanyment to the buttery rich lobster).

2004 vintage

Started off a little slow, but then it just got better and better. Really nice wine.

2004 vintage

Luscious, honeysuckle, peach, and apricot on the nose. Quite a full mouth feel but balanced with wonderful acidity and minerality. Lovely wine, rich but not over-the-top. Yum.

2004 vintage

WS NYWE California Chardonnay Tasting (Marriott Marquis) : Medium bright yeloow color. Very pale nose. Tight yellow frui with a long tight finish. Focused, but not giving up much at this point. May merit a higher score with some time. 90-91 pts.

2004 vintage

The color is a light, honey color. The nose has cane sugar, apple, honey and yeast on the nose. A very, very nice honey nose. This is a very complex wine on the palate. A touch of oak, but not overwhelming. Some grass, but again, with that hint of cane syrup and even wild flowers. A nice full finish, with some texture. All-in-all, a very nice Chardonnay. Best served chilled. The thickness of the oak emerges when it warms.

2004 vintage

Red Carpet Wine Tasting : Slightly thick; Still sharp; Almost a bitter finish; Needs food

2004 vintage

nice lemony oak butter - not flabby but crisp with a bit of green apple

2004 vintage

Opened not decanted. Strong nose of honey and hay; crisp and clean citrus notes and a dry finish. Good.

2004 vintage

Bri & Tess: Bright fresh frt (ripe apples) w/hint lite caramel, guanva, trop frt & rocks & minerals; hint swt candy mth, lots of grt a’s & min., extreme.well-bal, long ass fin, so clean, not gooey, Structure up the ass; Long fin, perfectly seasoned oak. “Honeysuckle”. WOTN

2004 vintage

First bottle of the evening. Taken to Merenda in Bend, OR. Served chilled, high acidity with lots of citrus notes and a clean finish. IMO, this should be served warmer than cooler. Good.

2004 vintage

Good balance with appropriate acidity. Definite citrus notes.

2004 vintage

Served as part of a tasting at K&L Wines. Served chilled: pale straw colored with a zangy, tangy, bright acidity with lemon zest and a nice oily mouthfeel. I'm not a chard drinker, but I thought this was quite good and bought 2 bottles. Terrific stuff.

2004 vintage

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Hyde de Villaine, Chardonnay, California

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