Inspiration Vineyards Estate Russian River Valley Chardonnay Vertical - 3 Pack

Inspiration Vineyards Estate Russian River Valley Chardonnay Vertical - 3 Pack
$49.99 + $5 shipping
CONDITION: White
PRODUCTS:
1 Inspiration Vineyards Estate 2007 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley
1 Inspiration Vineyards Estate 2008 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley
1 Inspiration Vineyards Estate 2009 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley
CT links above

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First Sucker - sent to Texas so I’ll have something unique (and quite delicious) to share with the family over the holidays.

Shockingly well made Russian River Chardonnay.

I’m sure I had one of these at a tasting near my work that the winemaker John was doing. I can say that John is a great guy and I enjoyed briefly talking to him about his wines.

Of course I couldn’t tell you which one I had and I couldn’t tell you what I thought. And even if I had written something down it would be next to useless since I don’t care for chard.

Why did I even bother posting…

Hello all - I thought I’d jump online to say good evening and answer any questions you may have about my three Chardonnay’s.

I have wanted to introduce this offering for months because I’m passionate about food friendly Chardonnay made in a traditional Burgundian style. After spending some time in France in May, I’m convinced that I’m on the right path.

I welcome your questions and if I don’t see them tonight, I will be sure to jump on tomorrow in between crush activities.
Thanks again for the opportunity to bring these three wines to you… Cheers… Jon

Thank you!

LOL - maybe it’s because I’m passionate about what I’m doing? :wink:

I can only hope that my Chardonnay’s will appeal to non Chardonnay wine drinkers, since they aren’t filled with butter and oak.

To prepare for tonight’s woot, I opened an 08 and had it with my wife’s fantastic Lasagna that’s made with Italian sausage. Yup - it held up just fine… JP

Haha, well it was worth it to give props to the winemaker. Hopefully he will make an appearance and fill us in on some more of the particulars. I’m not a big fan of Chards either but was recently thinking that it may be time to try a few new ones.

The words “crisp”, “pear” and “apple” in the description appeal to me but the only CT notes other than “goes great with scallops” say “tart peach”, which seems rather odd for a Chard.

Now that wine.woot has a new offering everyday, what happens to the lab rat program? Is it still going on? Is it only on the weekends? It would be nice to have some rattage notes for this wine.

EDIT: That was fast! Hi John, can you provide any additional tasting notes? I appreciate that it’s not buttery or oaky, that’s got me leaning in the right direction. Can you push me over the edge? :slight_smile:

Ok - this looks really really good. I just started ordering my wines… one for me, one for a Christmas gift. One for me. One for me. One for me. One for a Christmas gift. So many sons, so much wine.
So, what does that have to do with my question? Well,IF this is a ‘gift’, son #2 wants a DRY chardonnay. What say you?

Labrats can strike any day of the week now.

What a fascinating sounding chard vertical! If there was MD shipping my bank account would be taking another hit…

Chipgreen - I’d love too!
I have been facinated by Chardonnay for years and thanks to my wife Barbara who pushed and pushed, I started making them. (She and I both are not California style Chardonnay fans…)

At first, I just wasn’t sure that I had made the right decision, however with our 2004 vintage, we were “discovered” by Andrea Immer-Robinson who encouraged me to continue to follow my passion for French style Chardonnay. She tried our '04 vintage blind against a $60 bottle of Montrachet and couldn’t tell the difference.

About all three wines - they are unfiltered, barrel fermented (100% neutral 07 & 08 - & 10% new for 09) - they all have crispness, 07 has a great carmel apple characteristic, 08 is creamier with more green apple and the 09 has just a hint of Vanilla.

Since 06, these wines just keep getting better because I feel more comfortable making them - and they are all from grapes that I’m farming on my property on Olivet Road.

My first task tomorrow morning will be to let the dogs out at 6:45am and pick some Chardonnay samples to see where we’re at in terms of the 2011 harvest.

Please let me know if you have any more questions - and thanks in advance if you decide to woot on this! Cheers… JP

What a deal. My lady and I just tasted these during our visit to the Napa Valley two weeks ago. If I remember correctly through this wine-infested brain, that we tasted the 08 and 09 (very different! 08-drier, more complex). And I believe it was over $30 at the tasting room.

I would echo the crispness, apple and pear. The nose was bright, with pear. I also got a hint of honey, if I remember correctly) and it has a beautiful lingering finish. I think I commented (at the tasting) that it would even work with stronger pasta dishes. I brought three bottles of the 08 back and have had it with prawns and seafood dishes. It was beautiful. It is not your usual “Napa Chardonnay”, it has a much more involved and complexity that reminded me of my time growing up in Europe (with all the French wines).

The lady asked me to bring a bottle for Thanksgiving to match with her turkey. I have a feeling that it would work great.

Get it! (I am not the rat report, but here’s a first-hand experience).

EDIT: Jon, too bad I don’t think we met during our visit! Best wishes with the late harvest this year.

The 08 is the driest - dry, dry, dry… I would drink the 07 on halloween while the kiddies are bobbing for apples… and as for the 09 - suggest you use that one to assist those who are looking for oaky chardonnay’s - it’s a good transitional style to show folks who don’t know the difference, that there is one.

Thanks for the woot! JP

Thanks for the observations - I hope I was behaving when you visited us… As for it not being your typical “napa” style - you got that right! It’s Sonoma County baby!!! Cheers… JP

Let’s talk - MD is in the works for us and I will honor woot prices from our website after the deal comes to an end… Cheers! JP

LoL. And I am now a “faux rat”!

Thanks for the link, TT!

Appreciated! Between your tasting notes and John’s response, I am in.

Last wooter to woot: chipgreen

If I don’t like it, I have a Chard quaffing sister who will gladly help me out but I suspect that I will be keeping these.

John, would the '09 benefit from being laid down for awhile or would you consider it more of a “drink now” wine?

Thanks for your participation, looking forward to tasting your Burgundian style Chardonnay!

Good question - the 09 will definetely change and evolve with age. I think it’s great now but I can see where another year will allow the wine to develop a richer character. I would drink the 07 and 08 now - both wines have sufficient age.

Have you ever had older Chardonnay’s or white wines in general? They are different not bad - with very rich flavors and color that can hold up to any red wine. In fact, in France it’s unthinkable to drink a Chardonnay under 6 years old.