2020 Mail Road Wines Chardonnay Mt. Carmel
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Tasting notes
No SO 2 additions until March. Own-rooted, 35-year-old vines. Spontaneous fermentation. 35% of the wine is allowed to go through malolactic. 117 cases made. Smells of lemon curd and yellow flowers. Lean flavours of lemon peel, citrus pith and vanilla have a tight, slightly woody complexion. Good acidity. (AY)
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Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Chardonnay Mount Carmel Vineyard has a pure, crystalline vibe in its bright lemon curd and orchard fruit aromatics, and it's medium-bodied, with bright, almost racy acidity, some distinct minerality, good mid-palate density, and a great finish. It will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for a decade. I was able to taste three wines from Mail Road, which continue to be made by Matt Dees. These are pure, crystalline, focused wines that still bring beautiful depth of fruit and concentration. They’re some of the best out there.
The 2020 Chardonnay Mt. Carmel Vineyard is elegant, silky and nuanced. Orchard fruit, white flowers and mint are some of the many notes that open first. This is an unusually refined Chardonnay from Mt. Carmel, where wines tend to be more rugged. All the elements are so well put together, aided by long aging on the lees, which really works well here. White flowers, mint, chalk and bright saline notes linger on the sculpted finish.
The 2020 Chardonnay Mt. Carmel Vineyard is a more typical wine from this site as compared to the 2019. Tropical accents and creamy, enveloping textures all build effortlessly with a bit of aeration. The 2020 is shaping up to be gem.