This was THE chardonnay winery in California, along with Hanzell, and has a history for long-lived non-malo chards. This was a great vintage for chards in the area.
Bottle was in great condition, and the nose was restrained in the Chablis sense without the acidity, but is clearly showing its age. Still great flavors, but is going downhill, so drink up.

Have a bottle of 87 DeLoach OFS Chardonnay. Makes me wonder if I should give it a try. My guess it is way past its prime.

Forgot to mention, that I had the opportunity in 1998 to try a 1974 Stony Hill Chardonnay. It was amazing to see a chardonnay hold up that long. Certainly a treat.

GMT,

I was up at Stony Hill last month drinking wines with Peter. What amazing and gracious hosts. Although I am not a chardonnay drinker, when I drink it, it is Stony Hill or Trefethen Reserve (also no ML).

Just wondering, by stating 'was', are you suggesting things have changed or others have passed them by?

Steve

Bay Area Wine Project
www.bawineproject.com

Steve: My tastes have changed and I now prefer the full-blown total malo types: I used to drink Trefethen too. I also think that time has passed both of these by, but it may just be that my tastes have gone towards more "heavy" flavors over subtleness as I have aged. My allergies have gotten worse as I spend more time in Japan, and I may be losing whatever tasting ability I may have had.......