For those with a sweet tooth, this late harvest Carneros Chardonnay with a small percentage of Riesling blended in will fit the bill. These grapes were left on the vines into November, until botrytis or "noble rot" began to dessicatethe grapes, concentrating the sugars. Harvested with brix in the high 30s, the grapes yield a finished wine with 9.6% abv, and residual sugar at a pretty high 17%.
The wine is brassy gold in the glass, with aromas of honeyed apricots, honeysuckle, golden figs, and just a hint of petrol. The mouthfeel is syrupy and a bit cloying, with modest acidity. The flavors are predominantly honey, apricots, and figs, with a touch of parrafin or beeswax. The finish is consistent, with lots of syrupy sweetness closing on a pleasnt note of pure white grape.
This late harvest wine offers up creamy nectar-like sweetness in spades, but you can taste the quality behind the sugar. It needs to be appropriately paired with food. We paired it with a coeur a la creme, which matched sweetness with sweetness, but a better choice might be a honeyed fresh fruit tarte, or dessert blue and washed rind cheeses.
$30 at the winery - uniqueness is what you are really paying for here.
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