I have been playing a wine game with restaurant sommeliers and wine nerds across town where I show up with a mystery bottle and ask them to review it blind. By not knowing what the wine is or who represents it, hopefully, an honest-no-bs-review is achieved. ~ PK
Come inside and read the review of our next contestant…
^ Mr. Sebastien Le Goff of director of Uva and Cibo.
2008 Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay
ABV: 13.5%
Category: Chardonnay
Country: Monterey, California USA
Winemaker: Wente Vineyards
Agency: International Cellars
Varietal Character/Distinctiveness: 4.5 ~ “Right away, a standard chardonnay nose.”
Expression: 4 ~ “Loads of oak, not necessarily in the form or shape of a barrel. Oak chips?”
Complexity: 3 ~ “Not too complex. Sweet fruit, great apple flavour. Faintly hot.”
Balance: 3 ~ “A bit hot. Good acidity.”
Value: 3 ~ “A bit pricey, but priced with the rest of the gang in the chard new world category.”
Further Tasting Notes: “Tastes exactly as a California chardonnay. A bit too sweet. New world chard, 2006 vintage. Sonoma California?”
Score: 17.5/25
Availability: Sutton Place Wine Merchants, Liberty Point Grey, and Point Grey Beer and Wine Cellar
Pricing: $27.99
Wine review by Sebastien Le Goff of director of Uva and Cibo.
