2005 Directors Cut Russian River Charonnay

By: Chris Greacen - 01/30/2008
I roasted a chicken for our Sunday night family sit-down dinner. As the cook's perrogative, I opened up a bottle of 1995 Directors Cut Russian River Chardonnay from Niebaum Coppola. I'll be completely honest with you, I bought this on sale; Cost Plus priced this wine to move. It was such a bargain I had no expectations about this wine.

Two quick observations up-front, then I'll list some details. First, this turned out to be a really solid Chardonnay hitting all the notes I like: fruit, malo, oak. Second, even next to the schmaltzy mirepoix from under my chicken the wine held up. The wine's acidity (though barely noticable in balance) shined through the rich aromatic veggies.

• creative packaging
• tpir: firesale
• color: flaxen
• a little on the sweet side
• mild acidity
• oaky but not overpowering
• malolactic
• drink now - though I need to learn more about how these traits age.

I'll go back and clean out the rest of the inventory.