2003 Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay Mount Carmel Vineyard

A highly rated wine when I first tasted it, the 2003 Chardonnay Mt. Caramel Vineyard is living up to its initial potential. A light gold-colored, juicy effort with an uncanny resemblance to a French grand cru Batard-Montrachet, it boasts terrific acidity along with plenty of soil undertones intermixed with orange marmalade, peach jam, apricots and honeysuckle. With terrific fruit, a deep, full-bodied mouthfeel, a stunning finish, and 14.5% natural alcohol, it is still an adolescent and is capable of lasting another decade or more.