2006 Catena Alta Chardonnay

Butter and spice might be in the recipe for egg nog this time of year but it is also the key for this wine. With grapes grown over 5,000 feet above sea level, this wine is grown at an altitude that is abnormally high. While growers are attempting to repeat this feat in the Rockies, it has not happened yet. If it does, God knows that there is plenty of land available in Colorado and Utah. Think value.

This wine is very smooth and round. It's full bodied without being too oaky, nutty or buttery; in other words, it has balance.

This is an interesting test of the reviewers. Wine Advocate rated this wine a 93 and claimed that the wine had a level of complexity for a Burgundy that would cost 2 to 3 times this wine's $25.00 retail tag. Wine Spectator gave it a 90 and Stephen Tanzer of IWC gave it a 91. Each reviewer pointed out different characteristics of the wine, which goes to show that everyone's palate is different; even the experts! While there may be some commonality among the reviewers, ie in this case the rich, full bodied nature of the wine, there are many differences "picked up" by the experts. I think this wine exhibits a lot of vanilla and butter and some spice but I did not notice the baked apple, tropical fruits and floral notes. To be honest with you, I'm not sure I'd want a wine that was buttery, spicy, tropically, appley, peachy and floral. That might be a little too complex, wouldn't you agree?
At any rate, I'd give the wine a 91 and you'd probably give it a higher score if you really enjoy round, rich chardonnays. This adds to my theory that Wine Advocate tends to rate rich, round, strong flavored wines higher scores than do their competitors, especially Wine Spectator, who tend to place more emphasis on balance and soft, nuanced flavors. I'm not saying either is right or wrong, but knowing this going into assessing the reviewers is helpful as you use these ratings to economically select wines.