February 1, 2014 – Wine: 2006 Mayacamas Vineyards Chardonnay

I accidentally bought this wine.  After reading about the Judgment of Paris and the wines involved, I had been wanting to visit Mayacamas to taste what they had to offer.  I visited their winery atop the Mayacamas mountain range and took the tour.  At the end of the tour, I decided (after tasting their current releases) to pick up two half-bottles of their latest Cabernet and a half-bottle of their 1984 Cabernet.  (The 1984 was superb!)  I received the bottles in a nice box and drove home (a distance of about 100 miles).  When I opened the box, I found one half-bottle of each cabernet and this half-bottle of Chardonnay.  I called the winery and they corrected the billing, but I was stuck with the Chardonnay.  At the winery, I recalled flavors of green apple and yeast, and enough weight to allow aging.  So, I left the bottle in my cellar.  Tonight I opened it and was quite pleased with the result.  The flavors are more muted than the young wine, but the yeast flavor is gone, and the remaining flavors are nicely balanced and complex.  There is still a suggestion of richness to this wine, and the complex palette offers up grains, pear, green apple, and honey.  Let the wine decant at least 45 minutes.