2006 Patz & Hall Chardonnay Alder Springs Vineyard
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The 2006 Chardonnay Alder Springs Vineyard reveals notes of buttered citrus and pineapples along with a crisp minerality and freshness. Medium-bodied, elegant, and stylish, with plenty of white currant and quince flavors, this superb 2006 can be drunk over the next 2-3 years. One of the most impressive Burgundian-styled negociant operations in California, the quartet of Donald and Heather Patz, James Hall, and Anne Moses continues to fine tune and improve what were already top-notch wines. Their 2006 Chardonnays represent successes for the vintage. All four 2006 Pinot Noirs are good given the vintage, but not at the level that one expects from high quality Pinot Noir producers. Tel. (877) 265-6700
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Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Full, medium yellow. Deeply pitched aromas of beeswax and clove. Fat, honeyed and sweet but quite closed and unforthcoming today for all its opulence. A big wine but not at all a fruity style. Notes of chamomile, camphor and minerals emerge with aeration. Very concentrated chardonnay that will require at least a couple years of cellaring. Patz & Hall's parcel here is 2,600 feet above sea level.