I visited this vineyard several years back and it remains one of my favorite all time winery visits. The vineyard itself is a magical place, a deep gulley clearing surrounded by redwoods. The tasting consisted of 4 bottles of wine sitting on a barrel under a tree. We sat in cloth camping chairs with the winemaker, who lives in a house on the vineyard, as a cow munched on some grass 10 ft away. A few producers vinify Porter Bass fruit on their own (Ceritas and Littorai, who label it “Mays Canyon”). These wines are very good but they charge single vineyard designate prices. Porter Bass makes three wines under their own label a Chardonnay, a Pinot, and a Zin, all of which are 100% sourced from their vineyard; the wine is fantastic and priced very reasonably. My tasting note for this 2017 Chardonnay:
This is really good stuff. What a fantastic producer and an absolutely magical vineyard. I’ve had this wine a few times and it never disappoints.
Interestingly, it pours just the slightest bit cloudy. Not sure what that’s about, probably just unfined and unfiltered and maybe my bottle came towards the end of the barrel. Who knows…but after tasting this wine, I’m not worried about the cloudiness at all.
The wine is a touch muted right out of the bottle. There is a little bit of a dusty closet sort of smell- not entirely unpleasant but not great either. It blows off after 10 mins in the glass with some vigorous swirling here and there. The aromas that open up once that dustiness dissipates are wonderful. To me, this smells like Meursault or another richer style white Burgundy with fresh lemon curd, mixed citrus zest, white flowers, and a lovely creaminess rounding it all out. But there is also a fascinating and unusual smell of fresh cantaloupe that is just lovely. Meursault and cantaloupe: a combination that I didn’t even know I needed in my life.
The wine is quite rich in the mouth without getting flabby. The acidity lends it a reasonable amount of focus and precision. While the texture is round and full, it feels very balanced and the acidity keeps the wine refreshing. Happily, that cantaloupe note is still there- it really is like eating a fresh fruit salad with lots of melon. The lemon and creaminess are there as well in the mid-palate.
Half bottle held up really well in the fridge. The flavors the next day were a tad more developed. The cantaloupe had unfortunately taken a back seat, and there were now some yellow apple flavors creeping in, likely bc of a little oxidation. Highly recommended if you can get some.