...shortly after reading Jenise's recent Burg note, I spied a Taupenot-Merme 2015 Saint-Romain Blanc on a wine list, and it fit the bill for our meal, so we gave it a try, with great success. Rich tree fruit, slight tropicality, ripe and bright; takes a turn on the palate toward minerality, which draws all the loose threads of flavor together into a coherent finish. Nicely complex, excellent energy, a very light touch with the wood. This seems to retail for under $40 in the US, and at that price I'd definitely buy it again.
This came a couple of days after we opened a Mount Eden Vineyards 2011 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay, Estate. An effective caricature has to be recognizably related to the real features of its subject, and this wine has some of the features that are central to "cartoon California Chardonnay": creamy oak, a little butter, ripe fruit, relatively high octane (14.5%). But here, those features aren't exaggerated, and they're not the whole story, because there's also good balancing acidity, as well as a finish that isn't quite minerally but is still mouthwatering. Like finding the beauty of the real face behind the parody made of this style (or that this style can sometimes make of itself).
