And a tip of the proverbial cap to our local Oregon expert, Monsieur Trimpi, for originally turning me on to Marcus’ wines. To be honest, given how well both of these are drinking today, I’m not sure I could pick a favorite, but I am glad to have more of each!
2013 Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay Richard’s Cuvee- USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (8/16/2020)
Wow, is this delicious today! Expansive on the palate, with good acidity and persistence. Tart white fruit. Focused nose, with a hint of Granny Smith apple. I don’t know if Marcus would agree, but I think at almost 7 years of age, this is as good a bottle as I’ve had of this, and it appears to be at or close to peak right now.
Chablis-like notes on the nose & palate, with just the slightest reductive hint on the nose. Lighter-bodied on the palate - assuming I can keep my hands off a few of my remaining bottles, this will be a fascinating wine to track over the next decade.
Also popped a Goodfellow chard recently, 2017 Ribbon Ridge. My note is floating down below somewhere (Two white burgs and a ringer). I agree, lovely stuff, and mine, fwiw, did not remind me of Chablis, but probably more Chassagne–not a big fan of Chablis, generally.
Had the '16 Richard’s Cuvee last weekend and it was spectacular. It’s interesting that you note the expansiveness of the palate on the '13. That was what really impressed me about the '16 last weekend and I hadn’t experienced that before with younger Goodfellow Chards. It’s not in any way full bodied. It just has this great purity of fruit coupled with vibrant acidity that seems to flesh out more after a few years in bottle.
Great to see both of these showing well for you Bob. We opened the 2013 about a month ago, and it was on point as well. I feel like it should continue to evolve and have a plateau for several more years (at least) but it was definitely the best I have seen the wine.
I saw your note as well, nice to see the note on the Lamy, that’s a producer I need to try. FWIW, we bought a coravin for the winery. We elected not to use though. Tasting side by side with coravin and opened bottles, the coravined wines seemed slightly less complex and just a less precise. It makes sense, when we top or rack barrels using argon or nitrogen to move the wine, it does the same thing on a bigger level. The coravin is a great tool, but it is like a mini-racking wand. If I wanted a glass of wine, I would still use it, and it’s entirely possible that the Ribbon Ridge would still be simple next to the other two wines.
Just to be clear, the Ribbon Ridge was freshly opened; I pulled two glasses with the Coravin, but it had not yet sat under gas. That said, we pulled the cork on the rest of the bottle this weekend. (Generally, I only use the Coravin for short periods). And both my wife and I thought thought it outstanding. It showed a bit more, but, as youngest of the original three, definitely has a lot more “in the tank,” as folks say around here.
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Thank you for the notes Bob. This is great timing for me as I am planning on opening the 13 Richard’s Cuvée and Durant later today!