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Anthony Gismondi on Wine
Coolshanagh Chardonnaytext
89POINTS
16¼/20

Coolshanagh Chardonnay 2012

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaCoolshanagh is a meeting place of friends. And you'd be right if you thought your eagle eyes have met up with Coolshanagh before. For many years, vineyard owner Skip Stothert leased the fruit to Foxtrot for their vineyard designated (and sought after) Coolshanagh Chardonnay. Stothert liked the fruit so much from his small vineyard 7km north of Naramata, however, that he decided to keep the vines for his own small label, and enlisted winemaker Michael Bartier and Okanagan Crush Pad to make his inaugural release. Chardonnay does very well on this calcium-carbonate rich soil, and the minerality pierces through in this striving, focused and nimble white. One third is whole cluster fermented into neutral French oak, with the remainder into stainless steel. The two were then blended and set into OCP's concrete eggs for lees contact, complexity and character building. Bright and chalk dusted, with lively acidity, tight citrus and green apple notes, finessed elegance, and a gently creamy, river stone rounded mouthfeel. Very promising first effort. This would be a natural for halibut or other white fish with a little weight. I paired it with lobster and tomato soup and it was a knockout.Tasted: 09 January 2015Tasted by: Treve RingPrices:
BC$37.00750mlwinery direct
Producer: Haywire by Okanagan Crush PadDistributors: Le Sommelier Inc.
Renaissance Wine Merchants Ltd.
Grape: Chardonnay