2008 Concannon Chardonnay

A Creamy, Buttery Chardonnay

I recently lambasted Concannon Vineyard for their 2005 Merlot, and their tasting room acumen. But I’m here today to mention a much, much better wine from this Livermore Valley mainstay.

The 2008 Chardonnay from Concannon is a delightfully creamy, buttery chardonnay.

It’s bright gold in the glass, a rich color that hints at things to come. On the nose are some great notes of cheese and straw. Kind of a “barnyard” thing that I attribute to sauvignon blanc, but much, much more muted. On the palate, the wine really does taste buttery and creamy–I literally wrote here in my notes, “butter,” and “cream”–but there is a pleasantly tart apple note, too.

Tart?

Doesn’t sound like it fits, but it was there, and I liked it. The apple note helped to spruce up what could have been otherwise drowned out by the rich, creaminess of this chard. Made it work, it did. Made it really quite good.

Verdict: B+