'06 MacRostie Chardonnay

Another 89 point wine. '06 MacRostie Chardonnay ($23.99) I had this a few weeks ago at a party I threw to take a look at the differences between wines rated 89 points and as similar as I could find 90 point versions to find out if I could spot the differences. Since I found a few examples, I thought it would be fun to hear what others had to say, so I invited such luminaries as Luscious Lush Thea, Dr. Xeno (Ward) and Tom from San Jose along with , of course, the other Brix Chick, Xandria. Six people---Seven bottles of wine (with a little absinthe chaser) Good times! And material for more than one post of course. So I'll start with my notes on the chardonnays. Normally I rate wines 1 - 10 based on how much I like them. But I fudged a little on this one and just attempted to hang the "89" on the right bottle. I found the MacRostie to have a richer hue and a "better" taste. It had a slightly citrusy taste and hints of more recognizeable (to me) flavors of apples and pears. It had some oak on it, which seemed to produce an almost spicy taste. So I rated it higher.

I was wrong.

When we peeled back the wrappings on the bottle, the '06 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Chardonnay ($12.29) was the actual 90 point "winner". Although the color wasn't as nice and the initial nose was of gasoline, this wine took its time opening up and then eventually had a more floral quality to its aromas. It was more food friendly than the MacRostie chardonnay. My fellow wineaux totally had it pegged. In several cases, they like the MacRostie better, but indicated that they thought it was the 89 point wine. Since both the wines were agreeable examples of local chardonnays, I felt like we were all winners. Tasting them blind was a super fun exercise and let me stop and focus on #3 vs. #4 without the influence of labels, price or reputation. Interesting...
More on the other matchups later...