A well-balanced, unoaked Chardonnay from Cave Spring to tickle your palate…
Name: Chardonnay Musqué
Vintage: 2013
Producer: Cave Spring
Region/Country: VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara, Ontario, Canada
Grape Varietal(s): Chardonnay Musqué
Consumed: At home
Recommended By: Purchased it from the winery after a wonderful tasting with Tom Pennachetti, Vice President, Marketing and Sales for Cave Spring.
Cost: $14.95 CAD
Bottle Presentation: Classic, clean, and distinctively Cave Spring.
Appearance: Pale lemon
Nose: Medium nose, with tangerine, honeydew melon, honey, and rose notes.
Taste: Dry, medium bodied, with high acidity. Lychee, lemon, and white grapefruit flavours shone through, as did some toastiness, much to our surprise, considering this wine spent time in stainless steel, as opposed to oak.
Finish: Short finish, with bitter nut.
Overall Impression: We enjoyed this well-made Chardonnay Musqué made from a Chardonnay clone. The tropical and stone fruit notes blended nicely with lemon and white grapefruit rind flavours. We had it with ham and green pea risotto, incorporating it in the dish, and it worked as well as any other wine we have tried with this meal. Although we still prefer the Adam Steps Riesling produced by Cave Spring, this wine is well worth a try, especially if you’re looking for an unoaked white. At less than $15 CAD per bottle, it represented very good value for the money.
Rating (from 70 to 100): 88
Value: 5/5