Tried this last night w/ my TunaConfit atop LaPaloma Arugula:
1. JosephSwanVnyds Chard Sonoma (EG; TW) 1980: Med.gold/burnished bronze color; very attractive celery/celery seed slight appley/Chard some toasty/charred/smokey/pungent/oak rather old Riesling/floral fairly fragrant very complex nose; quite tart slight astringent/dried out strong celery/celery seed some charred/pungent/oak fragrant/old Riesling/toasted grains very complex flavor; very long/lingering celery/celery seed smokey/pungent/oak slightly astringent/dried out some floral/old Riesling bit tart/lean/sinewy very complex finish; a beautiful old-bones Chard that's a pleasure to drink.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Rummaging around for a throw-away wine to go w/ a fairly food-unfriendly dish and spied this old Swan Chard, so sprung for it. Some leakage around the cork and ullaged to about 2" below the cork. The wine was amazingly good and in great shape, w/ virtually no oxidized/old Chard character. Reminded me more of an old Oz Riesling w/ the floral notes and the tart/lean character on the palate. A real treat of a wine.
I always used to like Joe's Chards quite a lot. They were always on the lean/tart side, much along the lines of the StonyHills, when young; w/ a fair amount of oak. But they had great structure and aged amazingly well. This was one of the best old ones I've had.
Tom