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First time that I've tried the 2005, it must be new stock.

Nice light colour. Nose of honey, nice mouth-feel but a little light and classic flavours of honey and lemon. I tend to find that the CB Chards gain a bit of depth with a year or two in the bottle. I've got a 2004 left so that will probably be taken next. Nice with the roast chicken though.

Alex,

Am I right in thinking that such wine can appear in the same year? Unlike the two years needed for Port.
You recommended Cloudy Bay to me a while ago, and at £20 a bottle, I'm shamelessly waiting to see it on offer.
What would be a generally accepted 'good year' if ever I'm lucky enough to have a choice?
Are you still of the opinion its a very good entry level Chardonnay?
(I think thats enough questions for now )

Alan

It's the Sauvignon Blanc that appears in the same year and should be drunk pretty fresh, normally during the following Summer, so I'm getting through 2006 SBs now.

The Chard is generally better a year or so after release, so the 2005 has been released but the 2004 is better now.

Yes, it is a very good Chard, wouldn't quite call it entry-level - a bit above.

I'll throw in a note of caution though. I opened one of the Cloudy Bay 2005 Chardonnays that I picked up from Majestic over the weekend. Opened purely for Elizabeth (I had my Tesco 1994 VP) and she was singularly unimpressed by it, saying that it was "too woody" to be enjoyable. She did note that the following day it was a little better.

But I drink so little white wine that I can't really recommend an alternative as an entry level Chardonnay.

Alex

Whilst it is an oaked Chardonnay, I certainly wouldn't consider it overly woody. I also stick by my recommendation to shove it in the cellar for a year or two. It's good stuff and worthy of aging.

I can certainly appreciate that it might mellow and improve with some cellar age, I thought I'd throw in an interesting twist on the story.

I'm currently reading a few back issues of The World of Fine Wine magazine. In the summer 2004 issue there's a great article about screw tops as an alternative closure to corks. The article reviews a number of scre top wines that were tasted against cork stoppered wines and comes to the conclusion that the screw tops of that time were more prone to allowing bottle variation and over-reduction in the wines compared to the cork stoppered bottles.

Its a shame I only have one bottle of the 2005 Cloudy Bay Chardonnay left or I could have carried out my own comparative tasting.

I should also add that the one that we opened at the weekend did not show any signs at all of any flaws that I could notice.

Alex

Oh, I wouldn't expect it to have a fault of 'woodiness', it's not one that accompanies TCA and Brett. It does change profile quite a lot dependent upon temperature but I would expect the woodiness to be at higher temperatures and I'm sure you chilled it a little.

Differences in taste, that's all.

Last May I pitched Cloudy Bay's SB against the Chy with a few friends - both 2002 -

Consensus was - SB, really good - Chardonnay, utter rubbish - a huge contrast - (two bottles of each were opened)

Tom

Interesting, I've always liked the Chard but not sure I've had the 2002. I remember that the SB was very good though.