Flanagan, Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay, Russian River Valley

Golden in color. Honeysuckle and lemon on nose and palate. Very balanced. Aging nicely and nowhere near done. Nice wine Eric

Let sit for a few months. Once again the mid palette has lemon curd with a tremendous acidic backbone. The wine presents itself with lemon, yellow apple, and that slight creaminess of vanilla bean. Finish is pineapple and a little bit of mango.

Virtual tasting with Eric Flanagan CBCC hosted. Modest aromatics start the wine. Nose is tropical fruit (slight) start with layered scents of lemon zest, and pineapple. In mouth the wine is a mid weight wine which though seeing 50% new French oak hardly shows such. Rich acidity and (as Eric states .....) 3.35 ph and an 8 ta. Mid palette is lemon curd with a tremendous acidic backbone. I found my left eye slightly twitching due to the acidic reaction. …

I served this blind alongside a 2016 Bevan Ritchie Chardonnay (same vintage, same vineyard, and RBevan consults on Montagu’s wines) and the nose on this beat the Bevan. Huge and powerful Cali chard, it had this incredible note of smoked cream puff/marshmallow. Absolutely lovely. The palate showed more of those savory notes, but I didn’t get a lot of signature Ritchie vineyard nuttiness. Almond brioche, old lemon pie, and even a waxy trait. Probably best enjoyed in the near term …

Fantastic. Oak spice and mineral. With great weight and oak tannin to finish it off.

Huge buttery, oaky flavor. But when paired with minerals oysters, it became far more chablis and mineral on the palette.

Another good single vineyard from Flanagan, not quite as good as the Bagagulupi but very nice. Enjoy!!

Big and rich and powerful. Tasty stuff.

Darn that is delicious. With good acidity. Not as high powered in oak as I remembered but just singing.