2006 Sea Smoke Chardonnay

Popped and poured this as the first wine of the afternoon with Paul and Stefania Romero of Stefania Wines. I had heard that she had liked this wine through Paul, so I took a ride up to offsite storage to grab one of these. This was actually the first time we had tried the '06 Sea Smoke chardonnay (that I can remember), so what a treat to drink this with special guests!


Nice grassy/straw, golden color in the glass. On the nose, everything seemed to be nicely integrated. Tons of citrus notes of lemon and lime, as well as a creamy, buttery, oak, that didn't seem to dominate like I was expecting. Secondary hints of green apple, pear, and passion fruit follow with just a bit of creamy vanilla.

On the palate, this wasn't a knock your socks off chardonnay at first sip, but as the magnum started to empty, it was surely a crowd pleaser as I passed it around. I ended up getting 3 nice pours from this bottle, and it just kept developing and getting better. I am actually thakful to have another magnum in the inventory at offsite.
The citrus dominated the palate, with hints of grape fruit, passion fruit, lemongrass, and more pear. There didn't seem to be a ton of butteryness that the nose would have led me to believe was there, but instead, just a nice, crisp, refreshing wine.

All in all a fun sipper, and a fun bottle to start off an amazing evening! This was very enjoyable, and it was shared with many! 90 points! Cheers!