Opened another on Mom’s Day and it was more of the same. I have to conclude these wines somehow got heat damaged.
Opened another bottle tonight and it’s drinking beautifully. I bought a total of 21 bottles of this. 15 direct and 6 from retail. Im guessing the two off bottles I had were from retail and heat damaged.
We also opened a 2011 Peay Scallop Shelf Pinot tonight that is just fantastic. The best pinot noir I’ve had from 2011.
Opened my final and it was dumped. So, I went to the cellar and pulled a 2011 Sonoma Coast which was a bit young but very good. No cloudiness at all.
Nick, I have not had any problem with any of the 2009 chards, but wondered about the drinking window on the 2009 Hirsch? BTW, Had a 2009 Pomarium and it was exceptional.
I was looking forward to a 2009 Peay Hirsch chard tonight, but it is clearly oxidized. Dark gold color, musty smell, thin and acidic, no chard character at all. I bought it from the winery and have stored it in a temperature controlled cellar. It happens, but particularly disappointing because when Peay chards are good, they are very good. BTW, I have had a 2009 Pomarium and Scallop Shelf pinot recently and they were excellent.
Given the issues idenitified above, I opened a 2009 Estate Chardonnay over the weekend. This wine was purchased from Andy and kept in my cellar at 55 degrees since arrival in November of 2011. The wine had absolutely no sign of oxidation. The color of the wine was extremely transparent with no cloudiness. Due to the vintage, this wine is more larger scaled than cooler vintages, i.e. 2007, and showing a little more of the tropical fruit side of the spectrum but is still focused with well defined acidity. The wine has certainly integrated since being released and should last 5 or more years going forward. IMHO, I would err on the side of opening this wine within that 5 year time frame as I don’t believe that this vintage has the aging potential of the 2004, 2007, or 2010 versions. A very well done wine from Peay and recommended.
Cory
David,
I was reviewing some cellartracker assessments of the 09 Peay Hirsch Vyd Chardonnay because I don’t have a strong feel for the wine: Not only was it a “one off,” but we only made four barrels of it. I have had it only a very few times, and not recently. But your note indicates I should try it again.
Actually, it is a one off that we made twice, as we made a Peay Hirsch Chard from the 06 vintage as well. The two experiences were quite different. David picked the 06 Chard (for his own first Chard as we were making his and ours) after taking care of his many grape customers, and the ripeness was a little higher than ideal. Still, it aged surprisingly well, is probably still in a good place right now. In 09, David had a different plan, a different focus, and an excellent winemaker – he just didn’t have a functioning white press. We helped him out, and kept a little of the juice in return for the use of our press. The ripeness was dramatically lower, David focussing on a style objective and not allowing himself to be distracted by his other responsibilities. I recall the young wine in barrel having a ‘minty’ hint to it. The clone, the farming, and the site (while a tad warmer than ours) are all outstanding. David was (is?) a little laissez-faire with the yields, allowing the vines to carry a large crop in 09, counter balancing in his mind the pitifully lean years. Farming is tough out here!
But you might rightly conclude that the 09 should be able to age longer than the 06. So sorry that your experience was a let down. Would it be possible to replace that bottle? While I can’t say for sure what happened there, your experience definitely deviates from my expectations…
To add another data point, a bottle of the 2009 Peay chard showed well last night, with no apparent flaw.