2012 Copain Brosseau Chalone Chardonnay

Opened on a whim, hoping for something refreshing on a warm summer evening:

Notes of honey and sweet meyer lemon. Gorgeous floral component, reminiscent of honeysuckle and orange blossom. Acidity very restrained, which for me is a plus on a wine like this. ABV 13.4%.

Glad I have more. Just a beautiful wine.

Sounds yummy Merrill. Thanks for the early look as I’m still on my '10s. Copain is firing on all cylinders these days.

Russ, a month or so ago I opened a 2012 Copain DuPratt Chardonnay and found it nothing like this. Far, far more acidic and just no where near as appealing to me at this point. Pretty much any vintage I have had of Laureles Grade or Brosseau have been beautiful. I have also loved the Ceritas Peter Martin Ray 2011 and 2012. I got a little wild the other night and opened a 2013 PMR, and let’s just say I will let the rest of mine stay in the stable for awhile. It is not ready for prime time.

Other than that, for Chardonnay, I had a beauty of an Arcadian - 2006 Sleepy Hollow - in early May. I think I posted somewhere on that. Often for “white,” I drink Champagne.

Sounds like our palates align very well and the 3 producers you mentioned make up a substantial portion of my cellar. I passed on the DuPratt which sounds like a good call on my part. Be sure to hold some of these Chards for several more years as patience will be further rewarded. My palate finally realized how great champagne is a couple of years ago and I also often reach for the bubbly. I recently opened a NV Marc Hébrart Champagne Blanc de Blancs which was delicious and at $35 all in is my QPR WOTY. I’m really excited about this producer.

Russ, for a treat, try to find some of the Hebrart Special Club. I’m not a big champagne guy, but the shizznit rocked my world.

Yep - I have some of the '08 & '09. I haven’t tried one yet as I prefer my champagne with a bit of age and especially vintage. I wish I had purchased more, but at the time I didn’t know a lot about this producer. I’ll certainly rectify this going forward. Based on the NV, I have no doubts the Special Club is going to be a real treat.

I haven’t posted in Wine Talk in a while, but I pulled the cork on this one tonight, searched the forum, and came across your note. This is a beautiful wine, as you said a few years ago. Your honey/meyer lemon descriptors still apply, and the wine has enough vibrant acidity to make it lively and fun to drink. Time has not diminished this wine at all, and I suspect it would be a wonderful wine to drink five years from now as well.

Last month we tasted through the Brosseau Vhard lineup '09-'15. My chicken sratch notes on the '12: Lemongrass, citrus, good minerality, tart green apple, creamy palate.

To be honest the '14 and '15 were outstanding in the lineup.

Rat, I too liked the 2012, although not as much as you and Alan Rath, who was sitting right across from me. What surprised me of all the lineup was how well the 2009 was doing, as I had previously thought that wine was peaking.

• 2009 Copain Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone (7/23/2017)
  Tasted as part of a Brosseau chard vertical we did with Wells @ the winery. 13.7% ABV. Spicy, golden apple, pear and saline. Lean pineapple, lemon, holding its color well and also maintaining its acidity. This 2009 is cruising right along and developing well.
• 2010 Copain Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone (7/23/2017)
  Tasted as part of a Brosseau chard vertical we did with Wells @ the winery. 13.8% ABV. Light reduction in the aromatic, which blew off with some swirling and time in the glass. Bit of tropical here in the aromatic, unctuous. Beautiful texture, and like the 2009, a spicy note. Green apple pops into the finish, along with anise and a beautiful length. This 2010 is really doing well.
• 2011 Copain Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone (7/23/2017)
  Tasted as part of a Brosseau chard vertical we did with Wells @ the winery. 13.4% ABV. Lots of acidity here, spicy green apple, then lemon appearing in the finish, joining the minerality/flint. Medium weighted, elegant.
• 2012 Copain Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone (7/23/2017)
  Tasted as part of a Brosseau chard vertical we did with Wells @ the winery. 13.4% ABV. This vintage seems rich to me, lacking the green apple of the 2011. Spicy, yet softer quality and some lemony acidity that drinks pretty accessible. I drank my last bottle of this in 2014, and while I enjoyed this, it doesn’t have the energy of the other vintages within the vertical we tasted.
• 2013 Copain Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone (7/23/2017)
  Tasted as part of a Brosseau chard vertical we did with Wells @ the winery. 12.4% ABV. First time I have drank this wine, which seems kind of odd given all the Copain in my cellar. Pippin apple, lemon zest and oil, light pineapple, finishing with a flinty energy that is cool. No rush on drinking this vintage as it’s built well and of all the vintages of Brosseau chard, it’s the only one in the 12% range, FWIW.
• 2014 Copain Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone (7/23/2017)
  Tasted as part of a Brosseau chard vertical we did with Wells @ the winery. 13.3% ABV. Have a couple of these in the cellar, yet not tasted these yet and no previous TNs. Of all the vintages of Brosseau in the vertical, this is the only one that showed grapefruit. It is distinctive and delicious. Some lemon here, too. There is apple tones in the fruit, yet the refreshing acidity is still dominating the fruit. In total, acidity, depth and young, a wine I bet that is going to age well.
• 2015 Copain Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone (7/23/2017)
  Tasted as part of a Brosseau chard vertical we did with Wells @ the winery, with this being the only vintage yet to be released. 13.4% ABV. This has the richness of the 2010, and it shows a spearmint quality. Golden apple, lemon, creamy and light pineapple. Kind of a blend of the 2014’s acidity and the texture and depth of the 2010. Really good.

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As a bit of a homer, I think everybody should pull out a map and put pins on every vineyard Merrill mentions in her second post. And then go read the thread about the most underrated AVAs in CA.

Anybody else sign-up for the newest wine club rendition, case order twice a year, you pick the wines, 20% discount and free shipping? I was already ordering almost 2 cases a year under the previous club, so no brainer for me.

Russ, it wasn’t a change for me as I was already doing this level anyway.

Over time, you will also now get to come to your own conclusions about where the wines are going to head. Not from a quality perspective, but from a source perspective. The KJ portfolio offers now the winery several new sites to play with so it’s going to be interesting for me to watch what Wells does with the sources.

Frank, it was the 10 and the 15 that struck me most. And I was also happy with how well the 09 was showing, some nice saline and good acidity. The 12 was a notch down for me, quite rich, almost piercing intensity to start, but fell off a bit too fast, missing the lasting finish of the top few.

I think Copain Brosseau is in the argument for best California chardonnay, for my tastes. Especially when you consider value for the dollar.

I’m still pondering ($).
I’d buy even more if I could afford it.

The Laureles is still my fave.