Picked up a case of this a while back and never got around to rating it.  One thing I have noticed about every bottle I have opened is the amount of crystallized Tartrates in the bottle.  What the heck are those you ask?  The crystals form when the tartaric acid in wine combines with potassium under cold temperature conditions forming potassium bitartrate. It’s basically Cream of Tartar used in cooking or baking.   It doesn’t look pleasant, nor does it taste very nice, better to decant the wine if you see some in the bottle.

I wondered how this was possible as the wine was not cheap, I suspected some very cold storage or transportation issues.  Either way, it won’t hurt you and is actually proof that the winery has not “cold stabilized”, filtered or messed with the wine too much- this is a good thing.

So, back to the vino itself- pretty good stuff.  Made in a more restrained style, it shows good California fruit, balance and the ever-important acidity.  The use of oak is very gentle here, not chewing on a wood stick, no butter, just straight forward quality of the Chardonnay grapes.  The pro’s gave it 89, I am adding my two cents with a 3 star review.  Would I buy it again?  Perhaps, if on sale.