Week of 9/29/24 : Vinography

Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.

This week included a dollop of Chardonnay from here and there in California.

Let’s start with the pair from Dutton-Goldfield, which is celebrating their 25th Anniversary with redesigned labels for all their wines. What’s inside hasn’t changed much, thankfully, and both these wines are vibrant, brimming with energetic acidity, and nicely balanced. I think I give the edge just slightly to the Rued Vineyard Chardonnay, which has this mouthwatering quality that won’t quit. The Rued Vineyard, planted in 1969, is famous for having lent its name to a particular clone of Chardonnay that is now famous throughout California, not to mention producing great wines.

Dutton Goldfield also sent along a Pinot Noir as well that is brimming with fruit and worth seeking out.

Sticking with Sonoma for a moment, I’ve also got a Chardonnay to recommend from Flowers Winery on the Sonoma Coast. This wine has some interesting combination of ripe characteristics as well as some of the leaner crispness you’d expect from a coastal Chardonnay, but perhaps not quite as much as I would like.

Flowers also sent along their Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir which has excellent acidity and a nice combination of fresh berry and red apple skin flavors.

Back in the Chardonnay genre, I’ve got a bottling from William Cole Vineyards in Napa. William Cole is a Napa restoration story. The winery property dates to the 19th Century, with a stone winery building constructed in 1873. It had been shuttered since Prohibition when William and Jane Ballentine purchased it in 1999. After extensive rehabilitation and replanting, the couple opened their doors in 2004. Their Cuvée Jane Marie was developed in response to Jane’s love for white Burgundy, and has a nice balance of richness and zip. I just wish it came in a more earth-friendly bottle instead of one where the glass weighs more than the wine inside.

Next up, let’s go just a bit farther afield. I’ve been a fan of Turkish wines ever since I visited Turkish wine country in 2012. One of my favorite producers I met on that visit was Pa?aeli, and so I was very excited to get a box of their wines on my doorstep recently. One of the great things about Turkey are its many autochthonous grape varieties, and Pa?aeli tends to focus on those native grapes.

Yap?ncak is a variety from the European side of Turkey near Thrace. It’s a savory, richer wine, with a surprisingly dark color that might fool you into thinking it’s a skin-macerated orange wine, but it is not.

Çalkaras? grows in the western Turkish province of Denizli, and in particular a subregion of that province known as Çal. It is a red grape, but the first wine I want to share with you is a white wine made from this red grape, which was simply whole-cluster pressed and immediately removed from its skins. Like many such wines, it manages to walk this line between berry and citrus flavors which is quite intriguing. The rosé of Çalkaras? is also quite fun, and perhaps my favorite of the winery’s bottlings of this variety.

Lastly, I want to make sure to direct your attention to the winery’s bottling of the pale red grape Karasakiz, which makes a nearly rosé-like red wine that has verve, minerality, and wonderfully floral berry flavors.

Notes on all these below.

Tasting Notes

2022 Dutton-Goldfield “Rued Vineyard” Chardonnay, Green Valley, Sonoma, California
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of white flowers and lemon pith. In the mouth, bright salty flavors of lemon pith and lemon peel have an acidity that builds and builds in a way that makes you salivate as the lemon pith and a hint of green apple linger in the finish. 14.1% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $66. click to buy.

2022 Dutton-Goldfield “Dutton Ranch” Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Pale greenish gold in color, this wine smells of lemon cucumber, lemon curd, and a hint of struck match. In the mouth, lean lemon curd and lemon peel flavors are bright and flinty, with a nice salinity, as excellent acidity keeps flavors vibrating across the palate. Notes of lemon pith and white flowers linger in the finish. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $39. click to buy.

2023 Flowers Winery Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon curd, white flowers, and hints of butterscotch. In the mouth, rich, silky flavors of lemon curd and butterscotch mix with lemon peel and orange peel. Decent acidity. 13.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $48. click to buy.

2022 William Cole “Cuvée Jane Marie” Chardonnay, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of candied lemon peel and lemon curd. In the mouth, lemon peel and lemon curd flavors mix with a hint of popcorn butter and a nice steely backbone. There’s a hint of wood in the finish, but mostly lemon peel and lemon pith. Spends 10 months in French oak. 13.5% alcohol. 120 cases made. Comes in a nasty heavy bottle weighing 1.68 kg when full. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $95. click to buy.

2023 Pa?aeli Yap?ncak, Thrace, Turkey
Light orange in the glass, this wine smells of orange peel and apricots. In the mouth, apricot, pear, and golden apple flavors swirl on the palate as a delicate, even sneaky acidity builds over time. Notes of dried herbs and grasses linger in the finish. There’s also just the faintest hint of tannic grip to this wine. Very distinctive. Comes from a 55-year-old vineyard. Fermented in stainless steel and aged for three months on the lees. 13% alcohol. Closed with a technical (resin) cork. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $17. click to buy.

2023 Pa?aeli “Blanc de Noirs” Çalkaras?, Aegean, Turkey
Palest blonde in the glass, this wine smells of peaches, orange peel, and grapefruit pith. In the mouth, bright flavors of berries and orange peel mix with a hint of stone fruit. Good acidity and a nice herbal bitterness linger in the finish. Grown at 950 meters of elevation. Whole-bunch pressed with no skin contact, then fermented in stainless steel. Aged on the lees for 3 months. 13% alcohol. Closed with a technical (resin) cork. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $16. click to buy.

2023 Pa?aeli Rosé of Çalkaras?, Aegean, Turkey
Pale peach in color, this wine smells of orange peel and apricots. In the mouth, bright citrus peel and citrus blossom flavors are juicy and faintly saline as crisp flavors of berries linger in the finish along with a light chalky grip. Excellent acidity and freshness. Sourced from several vineyards at 900 meters of elevation, this wine is fermented in stainless and aged on the lees for three months. 13% alcohol. Closed with a technical (resin) cork. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $17. click to buy.

2023 Pa?aeli “6N” Karasakiz, Aegean, Turkey
Pale garnet in the glass, close to a rosé, this wine smells of flowers, alpine strawberries, and crushed forest berries. In the mouth, faint, wispy tannins wrap around a core of faintly salty berry and crushed stone flavors. Juicy and bright with excellent acidity and a nice wet pavement minerality. Grown at 550 meters of elevation. Fermented with native yeasts and the addition of a very tiny amount of Merlot. Ages for 6 months in second- and third-use French and American oak. 13% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $16. click to buy.

2023 Flowers Winery Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of raspberries and cherries with a hint of candied red apple. In the mouth, raspberries and sour cherry flavors show a hint of red apple skin and fresh orange peel as lightly grippy tannins coat the mouth. Excellent acidity. 14.1% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $51. click to buy.

2022 Dutton-Goldfield “Dutton Ranch” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Light to medium garnet in color, this wine smells of raspberries and crushed cranberries. In the mouth, wonderfully bright flavors of candied raspberries and cranberry compote mix with floral high notes and excellent acidity. Gauzy tannins hang in the background letting the aromatically sweet fruit take center stage. A hint of citrus peel lingers in the finish. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $47. click to buy.