Wildberry Estate Two Passions Chardonnay 2008
4/15/16
There are wines that sometimes just come out of nowhere and basically re-set your mindset on whether a wine can hold up with some extensive bottle age. The 2008 Two Passions Chardonnay is a magical bottle of wine that has held up beyond what anyone could imagine it would have and it has now reached a spot where it couldn’t be any better. The color is still quite youthful and giving no indication of it being 8 years in age. The nose has ripe melon, peach and nectarine with a hint of light oak spice aromatically. There’s a nice touch of richness giving the palate a light creamy roundness adding a touch of viscosity to the melon, and white stone fruit flavors of peach and nectarine with countering acidity that keeps it vibrant and surprisingly youthful. There’s no way you would ever guess that this was 8 years old, visually, aromatically or with its fresh flavor profile. Add this one to the books of one of those wines that fell through the cracks and ended up better off because of it. Those who drank this in its youth missed out on a beauty that just needed to be set aside and then tried years later. Who would have thought that this would have turned out like this? Impressive…
88 pts Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar (JR)
Pale yellow. Zesty lemon and lime on the nose, with hints of white flowers and herbs adding complexity. Deeper-pitched melon and pear on the palate, with a slightly sweet quality on the back end. Finishes with good chewy grip and a touch of fruit skin bitterness.
87 pts Robert Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate (JM) #186
Wildberry Estate’s 2008 Two Passions Chardonnay spent 3 months in barrel. Light straw-colored, it displays a nose of baking spices, wild flowers, and tropical notes. Crisp, vibrant, and intense on the palate, this nicely balanced Chardonnay will provide pleasure over the next 12-18 months.
These Chardonnay grapes were harvested in the cool of night to capture the varietal melon and peach characters were looking for. Selected yeast strains were used to enhance varietal expression and fermentation was carried out at a low temperature to help maintain fruit freshness. A small portion was fermented in new French hogsheads (the rest in stainless steel) for three months—this was done to help add complexity and depth to the wine, while rounding out the middle palate. Our vines are watered from unpolluted rain of the Southern and Indian Oceans. We start in the vineyard by allowing natural predators to control pests. Several techniques are used to optimize vine balance within the vineyard to produce maximum quality from our fruit. Pruning to ensure vines carry optimum bud number. Shoot thinning in early Spring to minimize shading within the vines. Bunch thinning prior to ripening to remove fruit that is not within Wildberry Estate quality specifications.
This wine shows lifted aromas of fresh pear and white peach overlying hints of honey sweetness. The palate shows richness of ripe fruit well balanced with fresh acidity creating a refreshing and enjoyable drink for all occasions.
