Winery - Ramey
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A dense, compact Chardonnay more in the tradition of fat, woody California Chards than his stylish Hyde bottling. Still there is wonderful plump pear fruit, vanilla, and a soft, cuddling finish. It’s ample and weighty, but not at all overdone.
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Ramey Chardonnay - 1997
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Tasted alongside Ramey’s Hudson bottling, this one’s distinctly different, a softer, creamier, fleshier wine, but no less compelling. From the Napa side of the appellation, the wine is fat and oily in peach custard, butter-and-Cognac-sautéed pineapple and vanilla bean flavors, and while the charred oak is notable, it’s fully in keeping with the wine’s power.
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Ramey Chardonnay - 2004
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This may not be especially ageable because it’s so soft and forward. But for current drinking and a few years out, it rewards for a wealth of flavor and richness. The wine has the blackberry marmalade, raspberry tart, milk chocolate truffle, cappuccino and new oaky flavors that many very ripe California reds show, but its pedigree is in the tannic structure. Best now through 2010.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
The wine shows a soft ripeness and depth of flavor, yet is balanced, with good acidity. Gorgeous structure; it is already forward and fleshy in cassis, raspberry, cherry, milk chocolate and smoky oak flavors. A touch of funky raw meat adds a complexing note. Drink now–2011 or so.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is notable for two things: It shows the extreme ripeness of the vintage, and also showcases the way even the ripest Oakville grapes veer toward darker-hued stone fruits and berries of balance and finesse. This soft, rich, fat, opulent Cab bursts with cassis, spicy purple plum, black cherry, dark chocolate and sweet licorice flavors, and is best now and for the next six to eight years, before the fruit fades.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
There’s a bracing, salty tang of the sea in this fog-cooled Chard. It has an almost Islay Scotch quality, although the pineapple, lemon sorbet and new vanilla oak flavors are distinctly varietal. Hard to exaggerate the creamy richness, the way the wine glides across the palate with racy richness.
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Ramey Chardonnay - 2004
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
The model is Hermitage, but the wine is distinctly Californian, with its fat, fleshy ripeness and softness. It’s very rich in chocolate-covered cherry candy, root beer, tangerine zest and smoky, vanilla bean flavors. A drop or two of Viognier was added and may bring a little brightness that lifts the tone.
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Ramey Syrah - 2004
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
What a great aroma this wine has: refined oak and all the smoky, vanilla trimmings, framing pineapple, orange rind and lemon custard aromas and flavors. This massive Chard just gives off oodles of fruit. It is balanced with rich, brilliant acidity.
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Ramey Chardonnay - 2001
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Opens with a nice nose of roasted nuts, banana, caramel and a hint of smoke. The palate’s pear, baked apple and apricot flavors wear interesting coconut accents, but all these are unfortunately overrun by a scotch notes peek out from behind an edgy acidity.
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Ramey Chardonnay - 1998
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Spectacularly ripe, showing an explosion of near-perfect fruit and smoky oak, balanced by crisply elegant acidity. Among the top ranks of Carneros Chards, the wine comes from manicured, low-yielding vines that, in this warm vintage, offer pineapple custard, lemon meringue, kiwi, crème brûlée and vanilla spice flavors. There’s something keenly firm and stony in the finish.
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Ramey Chardonnay - 2004
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