Tried this last night w/ Susan:
1. ChaloneVnyd Chard Chalone Estate (14.8%; EG; 211 Fr.oak brls; http://www.ChaloneVineyard.com; Foley Food & Wine Society) Chalone Vnyds/Soledad 2022: Med.gold color; lightly herbal some melony/Chard fairly light pencilly/oak slight marigolds quite pleasant nose; bit soft/lush some herbal/marigolds fairly melony/Chard light pencilly/Fr.oak fairly pleasant/interesting flavor; med.long lightly herbal/marigolds finish that mimics flavor; shows some of the crunchy/OV Chard character; just a shadow of the the Chalone Chards of yore; but an interesting Foley commodity. $31.00 (SFW&S)
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More vitascat from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. When I read yesterday about closing their Chalone wnry, I realized I hadn't tried their wines in quite some time. When I got interested in wines way back when, Chalone was one of the icons w/ their CheninBlanc/Chard/PinotBlanc (later found to be Melon)/ and Pinot Noir. The original was originally planted in 1919 by Charles Tamm who was looking in Calif for limestone soils like he knew in France. Though there is some claims it was planted by William Silvear around 1921. Some of those original vines still survive.
The modern history of Chalone begins in 1962 when it was purchased by Phil Woodward and wine made by Dick Graf. Supposedly Philip Togni made the first few vintages at the modern Chalone. Much of the story is told here:
https://cristaldiandco.com/a-legacy-in- ... -vineyard/
In 2004, Chalone (after Woodward's death in a plane crash) was sold to Diageo and the wines entered a serious decline, at which time I closed the books on Chalone. Around the late 2018's, Chalone was sold to the Bill Foley group. I had long blown off Chalone by that point, so decided to try a recent one.
The Chalone wines in the late-'60's were legendary wines. Very intense fruit & a ton of toasty Fr.oak. They were valued for this reason & their huge scale. I loved them for their excessive scale, like I loved the DavidBruce wines for the same reason. And the Peter Martin Ray wines. Those kind of wines are pretty much dismissed in today's wine culture. Whatta shame that is.
Because of these very old Chard vines, this was a far more interesting wine than I expected. Just not the Chalone of old. Trust me when I say I know "old".
Tom