94 2004 Ridge Santa Cruz Mtns Chardonnay 1/6/07 ($28)
14.6% alc
Color: Beautiful gold. (3.5) Bouquet: Honeysuckle, apricot and toast with impressive intensity. (3.5) Body: Light heavyweight with excellent acidity, minerality and fruit. (3.0) Flavor: Parallels bouquet, but youthful alcohol gets in the way a little. (3.0) Finish: Parallels bouquet step-for-step with ripe pear joining in. Wonderfully open for a young wine. (3.5)
Overall: This is delicious now, but may improve with 2-4+ years of bottle age. This and the ’03 vintages were more forward upon release than usual (a good thing, at least initially). It will be interesting to see how they develop. This is amazingly serious stuff for the price! Better than either the ’02 or the ‘03 at this point in its development. Another ’96 in the making? (16.5)