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Wine Reviews
We found 42 matches. Displaying 5 of them.
85 points - Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine - January 01, 2000 2005 Reserve Chardonnay Columbia Valley
Underplayed touches of smoke and grains overlie comparatively quiet fruit in both the muted aromas and slightly shy flavors of this mild-mannered Chardonnay, but the wine is kept on course by a smattering of fresh apples, and its slight sins are but those of omission.
88 points - Wine Enthusiast - February 01, 1999 1996 Reserve Chardonnay Columbia Valley
Bright yellow straw cast. Moderately full-bodied. Balanced acidity. Moderately extracted. Minerals, citrus. Crisp, subtle oaky aromas with a ripe and generous mouthfeel. Shows lean flavors and a hint of wood to the finish.
92 points - “Wine of the Month” - Wine Enthusiast - October 01, 1998 1996 Reserve Chardonnay Columbia Valley
Winemaker Doug Gore has created a creamy, nutty wine that offers a plump, luscious, buttery taste while preserving the balance of fruit and acid that is so appealing in Chardonnay. You’ll find flavors of pineapple and pear along with a hint of clove to spice it up. All this makes for a fun wine that can match well with the most unusual dishes, even duck pâté, which was how I first tasted this wine while on a trip to Seattle earlier this summer. I also suggest corn and basic grilled salmon.^This particular release ($18) comes from an unusual north-facing vineyard in the southern Columbia Valley. Early in the 1996 growing season, Gore designated several small Chardonnay lots for the reserve program. Just before harvest, a few more lots were selected and left to hang on the vine longer, gaining additional sun exposure to cultivate the sugar concentration in small berries. The grapes were hand-picked, pressed, and fermented in new French oak. It was aged sur lie for 12 months, and hand-stirred to integrate the flavors.^Gore brought his California winemaking background to Washington in 1982 and began making Columbia Crest wines two years later. In the ‘70s he worked for Beringer’s renowned winemaker Myron Nightingale. Here is proof that he was a good student.
90 points - Wine Spectator - September 15, 1998 1996 Reserve Chardonnay Columbia Valley
Distinctly spicy and smoky, a silky-textured wine with lots of apple and pear flavors at the core. The finish unfolds gradually, leading to long echoes of the pretty flavors. Drink now through 2000.
90 points - Wine Spectator - July 31, 1997 1995 Reserve Chardonnay Columbia Valley
A serious Chardonnay, focused, ripe and spicy, dripping with nutmeg, butter and honey overtones to the pear and ripe apple flavors, finishing with some finesse.
