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Wine Recommendation
Keller Estate
2005 Chardonnay, Oro De Plata(Sonoma Coast)
This is a rare and welcome confluence in California Chardonnay: a single clone of the Chardonnay grape (Wente) fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel. The Wente clone, which Gerald Asher once traced back to some eminent vineyards in Burgundy, is planted in an estimated two-thirds of the Chardonnay vineyards in California, Keller Estate planted its Wente block in 1998, and the vines are rounding into maturity very nicely. Even nicer is the opportunity to taste that maturity so directly.
Michael McNeill is not one of those Anything-But-Chardonnay guys who hates oak barrels – his lineup includes a barrel-fermented Chard with 100% new oak elevage – but he sure found the heart of the grape with this unoaked bottling. The wine offers classic Chardonnay aromas and flavors of fresh green apples and ripe pears, shot through with bracing minerality and bright acidity. I hardly ever describe Chardonnay as refreshing, but this one qualifies.
Reviewed September 26, 2006 by Thom Elkjer.
Other reviewed wines from Keller Estate
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The Wine
Winery: Keller Estate |
The Reviewer
Thom Elkjer
Thom Elkjer has been reviewing wines professionally for more than ten years. He has contributed to Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast, served as Wine Editor for Wine Country Living and is Wine Editor for WineCountry.Com. He also writes for newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and Europe and judges at major international wine competitions. |