91 2007 Mer Soleil Silver Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands (Caymus) 7/30/10 ($23)
14.8% alc
Color: Medium gold with a slight green tint. (3.0) Bouquet: Beeswax and ripe pear with tart green apple acidity (3.0) Body: Excellent fruit and acidity. Well balanced in a very ripe style. Light heavyweight. (3.0) Flavor: Parallels bouquet with more green apple lifting up the unctuous fruit. (3.5) Finish: Parallels bouquet with beeswax lingering. (3.0)
Overall: This is what ripe Monterey Chardonnay is all about. Certainly too ripe for the white Burgundy lover, but definitely not typical buttery, over-oaked CA Chardonnay. A richly concentrated, fruit-forward, drink-me-now expression of the grape with its beeswax and ripe pear flavors. Should drink well for a couple of years. Excellent value at this price and much better than the regular (oaked) Mer Soleil for me, i.e., no oak here to get in the way of the pure, ripe fruit. (15.5)
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