2003 Tobin James Radiance .....

[californiagirl]

... Monterey Cty Chardonnay

All I can say is WOW! It's hard to believe that 2 yrs ago, KC couldn't get me to even try a white wine. This is a great wine. Only a touch of oak. Bright yellow color, taste of pineapple and grapefruit. Lots of fruit on the nose. 14.5% alc... seems high for a chardonnay, but can't taste it. Came with the Club shipment.

[Innkeeper]

Glad you like it. Prior to '01 it was completely oak free, and IMHO even better than it is now. Haven't popped the '03 yet, but found the last two just fine when matched with something in cream sauce. http://www.wines.com/ubb2/Forum10/HTML/000093.html

[Kcwhippet]

That's my girl.

[Innkeeper]

Best one since '00. Incredible! Had it last night with fresh Haddock a'la Creme. Perfect.

[Innkeeper]

Popped the '04 tonight that came with the fall shipment; and it still comes from Monterey, still has 13.8% alcohol, and still costs $16 from the winery (the same price for at least five years and probably longer).

Since they now print some details on the back label, we now know that it is cold fermented for 60 days in something other than oak barrels without any oak chips or toasted oak sawdust. It is aged for 10 months in small oak barrels.

It is a delicious wine with a great variety of fruits on the nose and upfront. It was lip smacking good across the palate, and had a delightfully long finish. We matched it with frozen wild grouper steaks that we grillpanned with fresh lime juice, Old Bay Seasoning, Lawry Salt, and Penzeys' Granulated Garlic. The seasonings overcame the alcohol and wood splendidly, but the last glasses sipped before dessert showed the oak, unfortunately. Have to admit that Bev loved it all the way down.

We also enjoyed drinking it out of our good Chardonnay glasses instead of the WallyMart specials that we have had to use over the last six months, while our stuff was in storage!