2017 Chateau Ste Michelle, Chardonnay

   Today certainly is a humid one here in Central Florida and after working a bit in the garden, completing my daily workout routine & finally crawling to the pool :) I think I deserve a bottle of Chardonnay. As fate would have it, the other day Mrs. Desert Wine Girl was kind enough to actually surprise me with a bottle of Chardonnay, and luckily for me, it's been chilling in the fridge for the past few days. Hold on a minute please while I get it, I'll be right back.

   Okay, I am back now and as you already know, today's wine review is of a Chardonnay, the 2017 Chateau Ste Michelle, Chardonnay (https://www.ste-michelle.com/) to be exact. The wine sells locally for around $11 and is cork sealed. The alcohol percentage of the wine is 14% and even though the winery does own two different vineyards, as with the other wines in this series of offerings, Chateau Ste Michelle says that the grapes for this wine come from "world-class vineyards in the Columbia Valley". In plain English, that means they source their grapes from different vineyards in the Columbia Valley of Washington State which they might own or have control of (Estate grown) or might not own or have control of. This can be either a good thing or a bad thing as it can at times be in certain instances a sign of a label or offering where not too much effort was put into the wine. The vines for this wine are 100% Vitis Vinifera Rootstock as the dreaded phylloxera bug has thankfully not been found in the vineyards probably due to the area's weather in the winter months. The wine is 100% Chardonnay, sat Sur lie, and aged for more than six months in a mix of both French and American oak barrels (10% new) as well. In order to further affect the tasting profile of the wine, 42% of the grapes were tank (think Steel) fermented.                                                                        

    Moving on now to the label of this wine, I like it. I think the design is perfect and goes so very well with the color of the bottle as well as with my knowledge of the varietal of wine that is in the bottle. I love the picture of the Chateau on the label and think it is in proper proportion to everything else on the label. I also think the gold label around the neck of the bottle adds a nice touch.
   Taking a long look at the wine now there is an incredibly nice looking large gold lip too it. The rest of the wine is a very super light pale straw in color but also possesses a sort of clarity as well to it. As for the Legs of the wine, there were select areas where there were numerous skinny Legs but other large areas where there was more of a coating on the glass that appeared to be prohibiting them. These areas have a clear almost oily type coating to them.
   Now, onto the Nose of the wine we go. Right off the bat here, there is a modest Buttery sense or perception to the wine that I am getting. This perception is intermixed with a nectarine Note as well as a good bit of peach on the back end. Topping off this Bouquet is some rather nice cream & spice Notes.
   As for the Palate now, I must start off with the fact that there is a very noticeable flatness to the wine when really chilled which begins just after the Mid-Palate and continues through to the Finish. It's really unfortunate how that flatness is so successful in injecting itself in the wine, it seems as if it is fighting the wine in some ways and is another Note which is purposefully hindering the wine from excelling. As the wine warms a bit that flatness thankfully seems to lessen to a great degree and is thankfully much less of a drawback. Also right away as well I need to warn Chardonnay lovers that a good bit too much of the feared Malolactic Fermentation is present in this wine, at least for my liking.
This Malolactic Fermentation which is in reality not really a Fermentation at all as it doesn't use yeast, is usually tasted in this varietal as a sometimes oily/buttery type Note and in this wine, it is a good bit overdone for my liking. Many times expressions of this varietal are known for this oily/butteriness when allowed to sit for a long time in oak, some like it and others such as myself, do not, especially when presented to the extent it is here. As I continue on now, I am getting a slightly sugary Golden Apple and a nice bit of Stone Fruit as well. A big-time spice Note is present on the Palate and is one of the few positive aspects of the wine. The wine also exhibits a type of creaminess on the Palate that is instrumental in its presentation and is rather nice and enjoyable as well. The wine, unfortunately, however, fails in its presentation overall as it does not possess any level of crispness or acidity nor does it poses any amount of lemon or grapefruit to it, I think the varietal should exhibit these Notes as a given. As I continue here I have to tell you that the wine displays an overdone level of sweetness/tropicalness that is certainly a fault and out of place to be a good representation of the varietal.

   On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving this wine 85 points as I am not impressed. I have seen other so-called "professional" reviewers issuing scores for this wine at 89 or 90 and I am not exactly sure why. The wine is "off" and unbalanced. The wine is missing quite a bit of the very basic Notes for which a Chardonnay should be displaying. I guess the bottom line is what do you yourself expect from the Chardonnay varietal? As you can probably tell, I myself expect an awful lot more then this wine is able to offer up. When I review a wine in general, I rate it based upon the established criteria of that particular varietal. In the case of this wine, I expect the wine to come as close as it can to the full range of what a Chardonnay is supposed to exhibit. I ask you guys, how much fairer can a wine reviewer be? I think that I have said more than enough when it comes to this wine. The bottom line is that I do not recommend this wine if you are in the market for even a halfway decent Chardonnay.

                                                                                                                                The Desert Wine Guy

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