TN: Fogarty Chard SCM '10...(short/boring)

Tried this Sat night w/ Susan:

  1. ThomasFogarty Chard SantaCruzMtns (13.5%; www.ThomasFogartyWinery.com) Team Martella & Kandler 2010: Med.light gold color; rather melony/lemony/Chard spicy/herbal/parsley/cilantro/bright very light pencilly/oak light mineral/gunflint quite interesting/attractive nose; quite tart/lemony/tangy fairly rich/full strong lemony/melony/Chard spicy/parsley light mineral/chalky/gunflint very light/pencilly/oak flavor; long bright/zippy/lemony/melony/Chard light chalky/mineral spicy/parsley/verde rart/tangy/rich finish; quite an attractive interesting Chard that speaks of the SCM. $30.00 (AV)

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. Fogarty has been flying under my radar for a long time. I regularly try their GWT as I think it’s one of the best in Calif. At NEB#5 that we held at Fogarty, I had the chance try a few of their other wines. I was favorably impressed. So when I saw this Chard on the shelf, I thought I’d give it a shot. I was not disappointed. I’ll try the Cab next week.

  1. Chard: When I fiirst started my adventure into Calif wine (which…I might add…was not all that long ago as some of you may think!!!), Chard was one of my favorite Calif wines. But, as the oak levels rose, the acidity levels dropped, the M-L kicked in…I started to find a sameness in the Calif Chards that sorta bored me. They started to fall off my radar and I (sniff/sniff) pretty much quit drinking them, though I was never really a full-fledged member of the ABC cohort.
    Over the last few yrs, as I return more & more to trying Calif Chards, I’m finding more & more to like about them. The oak levels have dropped & the acidity levels risen. When I’m needing a white to drink at dinner and I cant’t find a new RibollaGialla or Timarasso or Pigato to try, I’m increasing rumaging around on the Calif Chard shelves. Who’d of thunk 15 yrs ago that I’d stoop so low.
    I particularly liked this Fogarty Chard. It had a brightness & an acidity to it that made it lip-smackin’ good. It reminded me a bit of the DaveBennion/Ridge Chards of yore, but w/o the austere/chalky character they showed and strong oak signature. I need to try a new MtEden Chard I think.
    Tom

thanks for sharing!

Cool notes, Tom!

Tom,
I recently had a 2011 Thomas Fogarty Chardonnay Albutom Santa Cruz Mountains that was pretty stellar. Picked it up after a visit up there this past Fall. Was with a friend who did the grafting of one of their plots on the estate some years ago so it was fun to get the back story on some of their stuff.

Across the board I was really impressed with their wines, both their main label and the new(er) Lexington line. The person at the tasting room, once he found out we knew wine, poured us an old early 1990’s Sparkling wine they made. It was just a touch oxidized but the rest of the body was still rocking.

This is a producer that is now on my buying radar.

I picked up a couple of stray bottles of older vintages from the local distributor - 07 CS, 08 Pinot and 09 Chardonnay. Looking forward to tasting these.

Tom - just visited this past week. Their wines are better than ever. Chards have a lot going on, with a good acidic backbone. The Pinots are so distinctive from one another, even different blocks of the same vineyards, since the soil types change dramatically.

Something not on their website and certainly won’t go into distribution is an “orange” Chard. Not oxidative. Mostly about savory herbs, like thyme and summer savory. Maybe a winter food white for wine geeks.