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2009 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Karia Chardonnay

      After reading George M. Taber's book, The Judment of Paris, a while back, I always enjoy drinking a glass of wine from one of the depicted wineries and thinking about the people who brought recognition to that particular winery, to Napa Valley and to California as a place for quality wine in general. The story of Warren Winiarski and his creation of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and their win at the 1976 Paris tasting is, of course, one of the best parts.
       So, while I am not drinking the winning wine, I am thinking about that story while enjoying one of their more recent offerings, the 2009 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Karia Napa Valley Chardonnay. I purchased this bottle for about $30 at my local HEB grocery store. In the glass, the wine is a clear, medium lemon-yellow color. It has clean, medium intense aromas of lemon zest, pineapple and some oak. Dry on the palate with medium everything (body, alcohol, acidity) with juicy citrus and tropical flavors to match the nose with some creamy, buttery notes in the medium+ length finish.
      A very good+ wine suitable for both drinking and daydreaming.
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Comments

  1. New Hampshire WinemanJanuary 25, 2012 at 4:26 AM

    Sandra, sorry I haven't commented for a while, but French wines are still way too difficult for me to process, but your cerebral posts are educational and definitely worth reading.
    I found your remarks about the Stag's leap poetic, and the comments on the Karia right on; I believe it was the 2008 vintage I bought a few bottles of: graceful describes the wine.
    Cheers,
    Dennis

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sandra CrittendenJanuary 26, 2012 at 1:45 PM

    Thanks, Dennis, Graceful is an excellent description, Cheers to you!

    ReplyDelete

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