by Andrew Chalk
The preamble to part one read…
“More people are coming round to the idea that Texas can make good wine as they sample more of it. But the ultimate test of gravitas in, at least red wines, is how they age. How does Texas do in that regard?
To find out, I am doing a series of tastings of Texas wines, all 10+ years old, and assessing how they are doing. I am choosing them based on how their peers in other parts of the world do at the end of their first decade.”
And later added
“Since this vintage is no longer available in the retail market I have helpfully indicated the price as ‘infinity’ in the title, above. ”
THE WINE
According to some bloggers (who typically have never been to Texas) the state cannot produce chardonnay. Wine lovers inside the state know that isn't true, but would counsel that the grape grows in The High Plains, West Texas, and The Hill Country. Nobody pins the City of Dallas as the next Meursault or Sonoma Coast.
Enter a wine from a vineyard on Inwood Road in the heart of the city of Dallas planted in the back garden of the founder's house. A lab. experiment? Not when you taste it. It takes its place in a fairly short list of prodigious anomaly wines in the state, alongside Raymond Haak's remarkable, category-defining, late harvest Blanc du Bois wines labelled as Madeira, the 2016 Pinot Noir from Bar Z Winery, and sombody's upcoming methode traditionelle sparkling Blanc du Bois.
TASTING NOTES
The nose is the most impressive thing still standing in this 10-year old wine. Vanilla, butterscotch, honey, pineapple, golden apples, apricot. brioche, coconut all mingle together in a complex, delirious mashup. The style is New World.
The palate has thinned out. So this wine is past its prime. Still pleasant, but drink now.
Amazing that a vineyard on Inwood Road in Dallas can grow chardonnay grapes this impressive. The nose stands as an epitath to this wine at its height.
ME: | Inwood Estates Vineyards 2015 Chardonnay, City of Dallas |
COMMENTS | |
APPEARANCE | |
Clarity | clear |
Intensity | deep |
Color | glold |
NOSE | |
Condition | clean |
Intensity | pronounced |
Aroma Characteristics | Vanilla, butterscotch, honey, pineapple, golden apples, apricot. brioche, coconut |
PALATE | |
Sweetness | dry |
Acidity | medium plus |
Tannin | |
Alcohol | medium |
Body | full |
Flavor intensity | medium |
Flavor characterstics | pineapple, apricot, honey |
Other observations | A complex exciting nose preceeds a thinned out palate. So this wine is past its prime. Still pleasant. |
Finish | medium |
Quality Assessment | Amazing that a vineyard on Inwood Road in Dallas can grow chardonnay grapes this impressive. The nose stands as an epitath to this wine at its height. The style is New World. |
Bottle aging | Not suitable |
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