2009 Stefania Chardonnay Chaine d’Or- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (4/29/2011)
Pop 'n pour - consumed over 3 hours. Light urine color. Nose was a quite tight but, as Wine Sparty mentioned below, smelled similar to a wet diaper - not good at all. On the palate, first noticed the glycerin-like mouthfeel, very viscous, round, and smooth. The wine was quite sweet and buttery with some candied pear and nutty flavors and very little detectible acidity. I didn’t really get the heavy oak that others have suggested, at least not of the toasted variety – perhaps the buttery quality can be attributed to the oak, but I’d associate that more with MLF. The finish was quite alcoholic. Honestly, this reminded me of a pear liqueur. I really couldn’t find anything to like about this wine – even the color was a turnoff. (74 pts.)
Did you open up the box from UPS and then pop the cork on this wine? I know it’s a $20 bottle, but come on, give it a month or two before making a legitimate note about it.
I had it a full week before popping the cork. And I paid $25 each for 3 bottles – makes me feel even worse. I will give the next bottle a month or two, but I’m not hopeful…this was just a dreadful wine for my tastes and there are other CT notes that suggest similar experiences (perhaps my score was lower – I’m not afraid to score a wine low if I don’t like it).
I wondered if I (aka Wine Sparty on CT) opened too soon as well, but I also gave it a week and have opened other bottles of wine much sooner and not had such bad results. I generally am not someone that gets too worked up about opening a bottle soon after shipping, but perhaps this could have been a case where I jumped the gun. Like P, I’m not hopeful, though, based on some of the characteristics that came from the bottle.
I liked this wine in December, but would agree it’s showing a bit weird right now. My impression (don’t recall all the details off hand) was that some time should allow the oak to re-integrate and the obnoxious youthful characteristics to tone down. I’m giving mine at least 6 months before popping one. So, that’s my advice if you don’t like how it’s showing now.
Paul and Craig - You can send me a note to paul@(wineryname).com I generally replace or credit people for bottles they have had issues with or didn’t enjoy. Not sure what may have happened to yours or even if it is a style preference, but I wouldn’t want you to feel like you have a wine you won’t enjoy.
Thanks for the offer Paul, I’m going to try another bottle in a month or two and see if it was an odd bottle or just needed time to settle. I tried to describe what I was tasting as accurately as I could – have you tried a bottle recently? If so, did you get any of the characteristics that I found? I have a suspicion, due to the liqueur-like aspect, that something strange went on with this bottle.
My experience was similar to Paul & Craig’s. I was surprised as I’ve never had a bottle of Stefania that I didn’t love, but I didn’t detect anything that I would consider a “flaw”. It did strike me as painfully young, and I’m hoping that another six (or more likely twelve) months will help.
I too would be curious what Paul & Stef are seeing with this wine right now.
I decided to pop one of these. I threw it through a vinturi, since this does seem like infanticide.
Nose is tight, and not giving up much. Some pear. On the palate, I get a lot of pear, as well as some lemon and vanilla. Very smooth mouthfeel. The finish is long. This is a big Chard.
In reference to other notes, I got a good deal of oak and a lot of pear, but no candied fruit or sweetness. I didn’t get any heat. I didn’t get order of the 2008, but the wine is bigger than I was expecting based upon my experiences with Stefania reds.
I like the wine now and think it will get better with 6-12 months of bottle age. My wife (currently expecting) is going to love this wine. This is really, really early for this wine – I wouldn’t have opened it if not for the other notes.
Just saw yhis post after giving my only bottle a try. My experience was the same as the original posters. I will emphasize that it is more of a style prefernece then anything else. I d be curious to experience this one in a year or two.
Right now it was not. My thing I am looking forward to the cabs given the positive word of mouth.
Well it’s hard to know what other people are tasting from a distance and Chardonnay more than any wine is so subject to taste. We opened one on Sunday during the Sharks game and it was fine. Sucked down by everyone in 20 minutes. Muted on the nose some, but not stinky.
My experience though is this Chardonnay has a rough time in bottling and transit. It’s fussy as can be. That’s why we delayed release this time from Fall to Spring because I wasn’t really happy with the bottling recovery until Christmas time. The bottle we had Sunday was a shiner that’s been in my home cellar since bottling.
But, it’s also a huge powerful, glycerin powered Chradonnay. I waited an extra week in 2009 trying to get more pear and peach out of the wine that was so sexy but fleeting in the 2008. The trade off was the richness and power. It is very different in that regard from anyting else I’ve made. So that’s why I’m reluctant to just say ‘shipping issue’. It could very well be a style thing and I guess an expectation thing given my other wines are more restrained.
In any event I don’t want anyone to be unhappy with a wine. We’re confident that it’s sound and flaw free and we know many people completely love it. But, I also know it’s pretty huge and not everyone’s taste. I tried to get that accross in the release notes. I’d rather have you happy anytime than the $25, believe me.
I would suggest trying it in the fall. The 08 went from a slightly disjointed wine to a truly beautiful wine that was the perfect match for fresh lobster with butter after a year in my cellar. I tried the 09 slightly before release while in San Jose and it had the slight disjointed thing that the 08 had initially, but everything was “bigger” (including the disjointedness). I’d stash it and forget it for a year and try again. I suspect you will look back at your note and wonder what the hell was going on with that bottle.
Thanks for the response, Paul. It may very well be a stylistic thing as you mentioned, but I’ll give the other 2 bottles a rest for a couple of months before I try them again. In any case, I will not be taking you up on your offer of credit for wines that are not flawed (though I appreciate the gesture) – I wouldn’t expect any winemaker to give back revenue because someone doesn’t like a wine. For the record, I’ve loved the other Stefania wines that I’ve tried – the Cabs, Syrahs, and Haut Tubees more than make up for my dislike of this one bottle of Chard.
Paul is very generous, but I would never look to return a wine simply because “I don’t like it”. I’m very intersested to see where this wine is in six months or a year. Worst case is that it never comes around the way I’d like it to and I’ll have some gifts for friends who love this style. It’s all good.
Has anyone had this recently and if so thoughts on how time has treated it? I only got one because in general I don’t like oaky chards… but I just opened said bottle and it was quite nice IMHO
2009 Stefania Chardonnay Chaine d’Or- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (8/12/2012)
I’m really not getting the hate for this wine, in fact I think it’s one of the better Stefania wines I’ve had! The aromatics remind me of apple pie- yellow apples, butter, lemon and a hint of brown sugar. The palate is a little sweet, but a nice smooth mouthfeel. Again yellow apples, a bit honeyed, some butter towards the finish rounded out with a touch of tropical fruit. I normally don’t like chards that have seen oak, but this is well made and tasty. A bit more acid and it would be stellar. (90 pts.)
