2014 Les Cailles Chardonnay

If you remember the story of “Never Say Never” and the adventure that produced 2010 L’Age D’Or Chardonnay, we made reference to another wine called Les Cailles. From a small section of the vineyard we fermented the grapes Sur Lie in Ermitage Cigar Barrels for 16 months.

Having white Burgundies as benchmarks, especially the wines of Raveneau, Jobard, and Colin, we were never too anxious to even attempt to craft Chardonnay in the new world as we have always felt that the wines were overly extracted, with a buttery popcorn extract, and so much toasted oak/ vanilla, high alcohol and just over the top, in short, nothing of any resemblance whatsoever to an elegant, mineral, white Burgundy -- they seem more like a martini than a Chardonnay.
 

Tasting Notes:

Le Regard / The Look
Crystalline purity of a Citrine gemstone, with golden depth of straw, highlighted by pale green tones. 

Le Nez / The Nose
The nose begins with aromas of tart apple and pears, spiked with flint, lemon peel, and secondary layers of white flowers and Mirabelle – Very elegant and linear.

Degustation / The Taste
The palate delivers luscious layers of buttery tart tatin, crème brulée, quince, and lemon curd. The middle palate is deliciously floral, fine-boned and elegant, with creamy layers of marzipan, toasted sour dough bread and stone fruit pits. The unctuous and creamy texture gives way to a perfectly balanced long finish accented by bright citrus acidity infused with salty minerality framing this amazing wine into a persistent finale.