Our second vintage of
Clos Pepe chardonnay has once again produced an amazingly distinctive
wine with which I am quite enchanted. It is awfully easy to get
bored with chardonnay--there are so many of them out there that
are not particularly interesting--but this one is different. It
doesn't have any of that typical California pineapple tropical
fruit. It has more subtle and complex aromas that are difficult
to pin down, and that is intriguing. The flavors aren't what you
might expect from the aroma. All that prettiness in the nose is
followed by fullish mid-palate richness, but then it finishes
with lean flavors of mineraliness, acidity and a touch of tannin.
So nice to have a chardonnay that isn't syrup-y and heavy! This
one works!