Comments on: Sprucewood Shores Barrel Reserve Chardonnay 2008 http://www.essexwinereview.com/2010/01/sprucewood-shores-barrel-reserve-chardonnay-2008/ Reviewing 399 Wines From Lake Erie North Shore & Pelee Island Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:58:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Robert Stephen http://www.essexwinereview.com/2010/01/sprucewood-shores-barrel-reserve-chardonnay-2008/#comment-545 Robert Stephen Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:10:18 +0000 http://www.essexwinereview.com/?p=1073#comment-545 Light gold in colour with a gush of apple pie, caramel and quince on the nose followed by a gentle lingering aroma of pear and almonds. The oak is well integrated and the wine as compared to most Napa chardonnays is tight and restrained possessing a certain elegance almost Burgundian in nature. Perhaps a bit of hazelnut instead of almond on the nose and you could be drinking a Montrachet.Gentle and silky on the palate with quince, smoke and vanilla notes. Not a long finish. Perehaps this is the face of a great LENS chardonnay? It is crying out for turkey with a traditional bread , onion and savory dressing.This wine wins very big points with its very busy nose. Light gold in colour with a gush of apple pie, caramel and quince on the nose followed by a gentle lingering aroma of pear and almonds. The oak is well integrated and the wine as compared to most Napa chardonnays is tight and restrained possessing a certain elegance almost Burgundian in nature. Perhaps a bit of hazelnut instead of almond on the nose and you could be drinking a Montrachet.Gentle and silky on the palate with quince, smoke and vanilla notes. Not a long finish. Perehaps this is the face of a great LENS chardonnay? It is crying out for turkey with a traditional bread , onion and savory dressing.This wine wins very big points with its very busy nose.

]]> By: Gary Killops http://www.essexwinereview.com/2010/01/sprucewood-shores-barrel-reserve-chardonnay-2008/#comment-341 Gary Killops Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:28:29 +0000 http://www.essexwinereview.com/?p=1073#comment-341 There are a few nice oaked Chardonnary's produced in the Lake Erie North Shore wine region. There are also a few not so good ones. Not only is Sprucewood Shores Barrel Reserve Chardonnay 2008 one of the good ones, it should also be considered as the bench mark for other wineries to meet. It's just that good. My biggest complaint about oaked chardonnay's is that they are just too oaky. When the oak overpowers the grape they just do not taste good. I have had a few Californian Oaked Chardonnay's that are way over oaked and impossible to enjoy. This wine is all about perfect balance. The oak works with the grape with a nice butterscotch finish that lingers for quite some time. I had a brief chat with one of the winemakers at Sprucewood Shores and he told me that new premium ($1100)oak barrels are used for this wine. They use virgin barrels that will only be used one time for their oaked chardonnary. The barrels will be used for reds after use but never again for the oaked chardonnay. A wine like this doesn't come cheap, this is an excellent value (underpriced) for such a premium wine. There are a few nice oaked Chardonnary’s produced in the Lake Erie North Shore wine region. There are also a few not so good ones.

Not only is Sprucewood Shores Barrel Reserve Chardonnay 2008 one of the good ones, it should also be considered as the bench mark for other wineries to meet. It’s just that good.

My biggest complaint about oaked chardonnay’s is that they are just too oaky. When the oak overpowers the grape they just do not taste good. I have had a few Californian Oaked Chardonnay’s that are way over oaked and impossible to enjoy.

This wine is all about perfect balance. The oak works with the grape with a nice butterscotch finish that lingers for quite some time.

I had a brief chat with one of the winemakers at Sprucewood Shores and he told me that new premium ($1100)oak barrels are used for this wine. They use virgin barrels that will only be used one time for their oaked chardonnary. The barrels will be used for reds after use but never again for the oaked chardonnay.

A wine like this doesn’t come cheap, this is an excellent value (underpriced) for such a premium wine.

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