Wind Gap - strike two (sigh)

I’d heard and read good things, picked some up at reasonable prices. A Santa Cruz Mountain bottling a few months ago was disappointing. This one also:

2015 Wind Gap Chardonnay Gap’s Crown Sonoma Coast - Light gold color. Pleasant but rather faint aromas feature some minerals and some lemon. The palate is light in body but not dilute. There is some pleasure in the brisk acidity. The flavors have a hint of something floral, the minerals and lemon are still there, but there’s a lack of intensity and where’s the rest of the fruit?

I had a glass last night, put it in the fridge overnight hoping for some evolution, but it tastes the same right now. This is a glass that is adequate, but if you told me it was a Macon I would consider it below average. Rated 83. I think I’ve got one left each of both this and the Santa Cruz Mountain bottling, will hold them 3 - 5 more years and hope against hope.

Dan Kravitz

Sounds picked too early.

Have you tried warmed to room temperature? Several times we’ve encountered closed or weak Chards and rather than put them back in the fridge, we left them on the counter intending to pour them out. The next night I took a sip or two before I was going to pour one of them out and it was an entirely different wine. It had aroma, body and flavor. So I put it in the fridge for the next night. The next night is was weak again. Once it warmed to room temperature the aromas and flavors returned.

I don’t know if the wine needs some age to develop or it just tastes right served warm. Not a warm white wine person but warm is better than dead.

+1 on Randy’s comments…and would add decanting. Chardonnay, a structured/well made Chard, has an under appreciated need/benefit of air prior to drinking, esp when young…more than equivalent Pinots.

I’ve also not loved their Chards - and my notes were aligned with yours Dan. I think it’s their basic Pinot and Syrah are great values though… especially the 2015 Syrah. Wish I had picked up a couple cases when I had the chance.

+2

And will add that I find most consume wine way too cold, white or red, which suppresses both aromatics and palate. Opened a bottle of Zind-Humbrecht Muscat a few weeks ago, didn’t let it come up to room temp and sure enough both nose and palate were a bit shrill. Re-corked and left on kitchen counter overnight, completely different wine at room temp next day.

Been consuming wine for years now at “room temp”, in the 66-69F range, way better experience all around. Was more than happy to see recent Falltacular reds lineup all at that temp range, and found whites in the ice buckets way too cold for me to really appreciate and gauge.

It was (Wind Gap is no more) a Syrah winery, just as Pax is.

I felt similarly underwhelmed by this chard, the only Wind Gap wine I haven’t liked a lot. Coincidentally, I had the Pax-made 2015 Wilde Farm chardonnay last night, and the profile was similar. Conversely, the Wilde Farm syrahs are great and the bedrock vineyard is one of my favorite wines. I may just not particularly like his chard style.

For the past ~50 years I have believed that the better the white wine, the closer to cool room temp it should be served. Both the Wind Gap Chardonnays were poured in the mid-50s and then allowed to rise to the mid-60s. Yes, they were a little better closer to room temp but both were still very mediocre.

I think Wes Barton nailed it in the first reply: “…picked too early.”

Dan Kravitz

Interesting that you bring up the Wilde Farm wines. I love what Pax does with red wine, and cannot for the life of me warm up to what he makes for Wilde Farm. I bought a bunch of the Wilde Farm Bedrock Vineyard wine, because Pax made it. I have never been able to finish a glass. I now use it for cooking.

They made a lovely Chardonnay a few years ago from Yeun or Yuen, like domestic Premier Cru Chablis. Vintage was 09 or 12 I think.

The Yuen was from James Berry and Brosseau fruit, I think he made it in 2008 and 2009.

-Al

Ouch! I really do love that wine.
Different strokes, as they say. [cheers.gif]

+3 on Randy’s comment. I have always enjoy good Chardonnay closer to room temperature than out of the fridge. It is amazing how restaurants pour a glass at the coldest temperatures.

Dan made it quite clear above that this was consumed closer to room temperature than refrigerator temperature.

Yep, as David said, Dan DID drink it closer to cellar/room temperature.

And this is something I generally do with all whites, but it’s not something the majority of consumers will ever do. It’s just not them.

Greg - great point on Falltacular. I remember the last time Jamie Kutch came, I commented about one of his chardonnay and he immediately took it out of the ice to get it closer to cellar temperature. And I’ve ‘freaked’ folks out there by usually having my rose in and out so that it does not get too cold - and having my Roussanne upstairs with the Rhone reds to make sure it didn’t get anywhere near the ice.

Any white wine served closer to room temperature is definitely more ‘naked’ - there is no way to hide alcohol levels; use of new oak; VA; RS, etc . . . It’s ‘risky’ and that’s why so many are poured colder IMHO.

Cheers.

Must have been the 09 we loved.

That’s true of bigger wines, but high acid whites often show MUCH better when they warm up a bit and the impression of acidity recedes.

What was the alcohol level on the label?

The few recent Wind Gap wines I’ve had all seem like they’ve taken early picking too far.

The alc in 13.4%…which doesn’t indicate unusually early picking, on brix anyways. Not that brix is the best picking metric, but still. According to the WG website, the pH here is 3.2 which is low but not unusual…so picking doesn’t make sense to me. I’d say more time esp given the pH, and/or it’s a style that doesn’t resonate with you.