Tried this last night w/ my BLT's:
1. KentRasmussen Chard NapaVlly (13%; KentRasmussen.com) St.Helena 2005: Med.dark gold color; very fragrant apple blossom/floral quite melony/honeydew/honeyed/Chard/lemony some butterscotchy/caramel/oak fairly complex lovely nose; fairly tart/racey rich/lush strong floral/apple blossom/honeyed/honeydew/lemony/Chard/melony some caramel/butterscotch/Fr.oak/nutmeg fairly complex flavor; very long/lingering rich/lush tart/bracing acidity some Fr.oak/nutmeg/butterscotch strong lemony/melony/Chard/honeydew some complex finish; a beautiful expression of Calif Chard that should go another 5-6 yrs; rich & textured w/ a fresh backbone of acidity.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. It's Chards like this that has caused me to resign in disgust from the ABC club. Amazingly good for a 12 yr old Chard.
I have, of course, followed Kent from the very start. Fell in love w/ his early wines and did a visit w/ him at his family vnyd deep into the Carneros, when his tiny wnry was located there. He specialized in Pinot & Chard grown on the Estate.
The early Rasmussen wines tended to be made in a reductive fashion and I started to coin the term the "Rasmussen stench". But they always aged out of it and became beautiful wines.
Kent reminds me a lot of AdamTolmach. Neither are what you would call marketing geniuses. In fact, "anti-marketers" would be more accurate. Which is why his wines are not easy to find. He has no marketing program and I buy them only when I happen to stumble upon them on a retail shelf.
He also makes wine, from purchased grapes, under the Ramsay label, named after his wife, Celia Ramsay, a very highly regarded folk muscician in the EastBay area. And a tiny amount of wine under his Esoterica label.
Great wines, great people...they should be better known.
Tom