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This is a big, rich and powerful mature Chardonnay with at least another decade on it. A bewildering, glorious palate of pineapple, white currants, dried apricots, white peaches, dill, honeysuckle—the list goes on and on, as does this masterful wine’s palate, revealing layer upon layer like a perfect mille fieulle. Zippy acidity, an arresting mouth-feel and fantastic finish make this ’95 simply astounding.
- Country: US
- Region: California
- Subregion: Sonoma County
It is a real challenge to capture the essence and raison d’etre of
Kalin. If you’ve ever been curious to understand what winemaker Terrance Leighton means when he says his aged wines have “umami,” take Kalin out for a test drive. One taste, and it will open your mind to a unique California wine experience. Located in Marin County, the explicit goal of Terry and wife Frances is to “produce wines of enduring value with traditional European style and character.” They are also wines to match with food. “Wine is like a sauce for the dish you serve it with,” says Terry.
Kalin Cellars is an artisanal, traditional enterprise at heart. Terry and Frances are literally the only “people between you and bottle.” (They don’t employ anyone to help out in the winery, and as a result never produce more than 7000 cases annually.) Terry is also a professor emeritus of microbiology at UC Berkeley and understands the science of winemaking better than most. They select specific strains of yeast to bring out the uniqueness of each vineyard site. They pioneered sur lie aging in America and were among the first to bottle their wines unfiltered, beginning with the 1981 vintage.
Like their peers in Europe, the Leightons’ methods can, at times, seem unorthodox. They’ve been known to release vintages non-chronologically. Kalin may have been the only winery to release most of the ‘92 Chardonnays before the slower-evolving ‘91s since, says Terry, “We release what tastes good...every wine we offer is a library wine.” The Leightons also believe that the American public is ready for sediment — sometimes a lot of sediment — in their wines. “If it doesn’t have crud in the bottle, it isn’t Kalin,” Frances told Richard Nalley in Departures Magazine a few years ago.
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