2006 Mer Soleil Vineyard 'Silver' Chardonnay
MER SOLEIL VINEYARD’S ‘Silver’ Chardonnay is what an unoaked Chardonnay should aspire to be.
Too often, I find that “unoaked” means “unflavored”. That just goes to show you that what you are usually tasting in a chard, and how weak or watery most are. I commend people for going ‘naked’, but you don’t want to see everyone naked. In fact, its usually just a select few.
Well, at the risk of a crude reference…this Chardonnay is a supermodel. This is full throttle flavor. It’s bright, crisp, refreshing…yet at the same time, it’s viscous and voluptuous.
Grown in the Santa Lucia Highlands region of CA, this is technically the Monterey County AVA, but is about an hour’s drive south of Monterey, near Big Sur. Tall mountains which crash down into the Pacific Ocean, where cool morning breezes and hot mid-day sun make this a perfect growing region. This region makes some of the most amazing, high quality, and sought after Pinot Noir outside of Burgundy as well…but this is about Chardonnay.
Wine grower and maker Charlie Wagner II is the son of the well-known Charlie Wagner of Caymus Vineyards in Rutherford, CA – so he’s most definitely learned from the best.
(Sidenote: I just wanted to say that I commend the fact that they went with a screw cap on this wine. Screw caps are SO underrated in my opinion, and should be used more often.)
So back to the wine. One of the best parts of this wine is that it unoaked style allows the huge fruit flavors to shine through. There is absolutely NO sacrifice in flavors, interestingness, and enjoyability due to this no oak. No malolactic fermentation either…which surprises me given it’s viscosity and voluptuousness. If I knew what to drink from Chablis, this is how I imagine a great one would taste like.
Tasting Notes:
- Golden straw in color.
- Nose is sweeter – ALMOST like a watered down Muscato or late harvest wine.
- Green Apple, Pear, Pineapple, slight tart citrus.
- Great weight.
- Super refeshing.
14.2% Alcohol.
~$35-40
OFW = 94 pts.
