The mouthfeel is creamy and lush: much more in line with the nose.

Like a hip-hop artist's album that couldn't get a distribution deal, this wine has been sitting on winery's shelves for a while. But, unlike most hip-hop, which tends to lose its intensity over time, Meridian's Edna Valley Reserve has gained it. Kudos to Meridian for releasing it when it was ready, rather than as soon as possible to reap the sales*.

Just don't wait too long to pick up a bottle for yourself. While this is a pretty easy chardonnay to find, Meridian's black label wines aren't quite as plentiful as its white label bottles. You don't want to miss out on gangsta rap that tastes this good!

Cheers,
TSW

* - To be fair, many, many wineries aren't as big as Meridian, and thus don't have much choice in when they release wines. When relying on the revenue of one wine to afford bottles, corks, labels, foil caps, etc. for the next, there's little choice but to release a wine as early as possible.

This wine has all the delicacy and subtlety of gangsta rap, and that's not such a bad thing.

But, like a lot of good rap (no, that's not an oxymoron), it isn't one-dimensional. In fact, it's chock-full of contradictions.

The color is deep, but not golden. It's definitely yellow, with a green tinge. While that usually describes a lighter wine, this one looks viscous when sitting in the glass.

On the nose, it smells old: several years older than it is ('99 isn't real old, even for a California chardonnay). What I mean by that is that there's an earthy, almost musty (but not in a bad way) quality to it. Still, apple and oak aromas dominate.

Then, the palate tastes surprisingly bright and fresh. Guava and apricot aren't what I expect, but they're what I get from this winner.