My selection for WBW #36
I don’t get out much these days. I mean, I have gift certificates to two Seattle-area wine stores. At this rate, I’ll have those gift certificates for a while longer. I rarely get to wine stores anymore, which is good in some ways because it reduces the temptation to buy stuff. But it’s bad because I love wine and I want to see what’s new.
So, when I found myself at a wine store today over my lunch hour, I decided to make a purchase for the upcoming Wine Blogging Wednesday: #36, unoaked Chardonnay. After careful deliberation, I decided on the 2005 Mer Soleil Santa Lucia Highlands Silver Unoaked Chardonnay. This wine rated a 92 in Wine Spectator, placing it at the top of their “unoaked Chardonnay” list in the July 2007 issue. Robert Parker gave it a 90-point score. Clearly, it’s worth tracking down, if you believe in the cult of the 100-point rating system. I almost do.
You can still buy this wine for about $28 online if you know where to look. I paid $34.21 with tax and a 15% discount, courtesy of my friend. The maddening thing is the official Mer Soleil Web site has not been updated in a while, so the 2005 is unlisted as of 7/19/07. In fact, none of the unoaked “Silver” line of Chardonnay is listed at all. I’m sure that will change soon given the amount of publicity this wine seems to be receiving.
The lineage of this wine is quite potent, so to speak. Charlie Wagner founded the Caymus winery in 1971; his son Chuck took over the winemaking duties there in 1984. Chuck, in turn, had two sons, and one of them (Charlie II) runs Mer Soleil. His winery is named after the Mer Soleil vineyard in Monterey, California, in the Santa Lucia Highlands. I love the wines that come from this region of California, so I look forward to tasting the 2005 Silver Chardonnay in a couple of weeks!