In this case I mean from my own “library” as one would refer to a “library wine” as older and stored for aging. A long time ago in a lifetime far, far away I was on vacation in New Orleans and had a 1996 Mayacamas Chardonnay at Emeril Lagasse’s NOLA restaurant and nearly fell over it was so impressive. Once home from that trip I signed up for their semi-annual newsletter (that comes in the mailbox at the end of my driveway and is printed on thick fancy paper) and began my search for another bottle. Some years later I discovered a wine store in Red Bank that carried it and made the investment — this time in a 1999. Now, mind you at the time I was that-friend-that-everyone-hands-the-wine-list-to-at-restaurants but had no idea what the 1999 vintage was like for Napa Valley. And frankly I didn’t care. This wine was the closest thing to biting into a cool, liquid, fresh green apple infused with sunshine that you’re going to find. So there it lay in my cellar for a Special Occasion for many years — probably too many for a white but hey, they’re still selling their 2000 Chardonnay in their library section — and I decided today that a special enough occasion is wanting to drink it. At least I didn’t smuggle it into a burger joint and slurp it with fries. I could analyze why I never felt any other occasion was special enough for it — I’m sure there were many, many, many — but it’s more likely that either it wouldn’t pair well with whatever we were serving or I’d be the only one drinking it. And special occasions often call for champagne anyway.
So this ‘99 Chardonnay from the Napa side of the Mayacamas Mountains, that I finally exposed to the air 9 years since it last felt it, is a pale gold color, almost brassy, with a wide silver rim. There is slight flocculation (specks) throughout the wine but it is star bright and looks luminescent enough. On the nose I detect mild honey, lemon, straw, limestone, and a light jasmine note. In the palate the honey is stronger, followed by lemon, golden delicious apple, lemon pith, and unripe pineapple. So the personality seems to have matured from bright green, fresh & crisp to warmer, “yellower” flavors, but it still has the highly acidic edginess to it that keeps it standing upright. The wine is dry, medium bodied, the alcohol was well-integrated (13.75%), with medium- intensity, no tannins or oak, medium finish and medium complexity. I would pair this with herb chicken, oysters or any type of seafood for that matter, or that butternut squash soufflé I made once. Delicious.
My ONLY concern is that it seemed to have aged adequately in spite of my cellar environment, not in harmony with it. I think if it were a bit cooler down there (or at least if the temperature were more consistent) the wine would have had more to say. At the end of some of the sips there was a sad note that suggested a tiny bit of volatile acidity. Guess it’s time to get a real wine fridge . . .
Overall I really enjoyed the Chardonnay. I just wish I had been kinder to it over the years — or opened it sooner!
Word of advice: if you move on from brunch and mimosas and pick up at the bar where that left off you should probably have another meal in there somewhere. Several hours and 3 glasses of a 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon later (which I guessed blindly, but did not recognize the winery) with no additional food I was sloppier than I like and VERY sick. Ugh, bad move. But somehow we all bid each other adieu and I got my friend to her Madonna concert on time and I got home on the train safely; no hangover today (drink lots of water before you go to bed!), and a lesson learned. Sometimes it’s not about what’s in the glass but the group around the glasses.