2006 Peter Michael - Chardonnay Sonoma County Ma Belle-Fille

The 2006 Chardonnay Ma Belle Fille, which comes from their highest altitude vineyard, with a southerly exposure, and again, mostly old Wente clones like virtually all of these Chardonnays, has notes of quince, nectarines, white currants, and almost a liqueur of rocks. The wine has superb concentration and strikes me as one of the very best of the 2006 Chardonnays made in California.

Bright greenish yellow. Knockout nose combines citrus peel, white peach, minerals, iodine, spices and creme brulee; I'd love to throw this into a Burgundy tasting. Rich, fat and sweet but with enough mineral spine to maintain its shape and freshness. With aeration, this very concentrated wine became juicier, brighter and more gripping. Finishes with a youthful bitter edge that really grabs hold of the palate. Includes a lot of fruit from the Hyde and Hudson clones, which produce tiny clusters.

2006 marks the fifth vintage of Ma Belle-Fille. The wine is spectacularly intense, boasting aromas of citrus oils, tangerine blossom, dried apricot, golden apple, nectarine, accented with wet stone-like minerality, brioche and acacia. Rich, concentrated and generous in the mouth, the wine displays flavors of William pear, honey, dried almond, meringue, dry chamomile, orange rind and notes of baked Reinette apple. The finish is seductively layered and very long.