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17½/20
CheckMate Artisanal Winery Attack Chardonnay 2015
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaAttack is the odd man out when it comes to Checkmate’s single site labels. In 2015 it received a complexity upgrade, mixing two clones: Dijon 76 and the Dekleva selection from Jagged Rock (Black Sage Bench), Border Vista Vineyard (Osoyoos East Bench), plus Combret Vineyard and Dekleva Vineyard both on the Golden Mile Bench. The ageing, 16 months, occurs in French foudres, one new, the other one-year-old with no malolactic fermentation. Winemaker Phil McGahan says the 2015 ferments were long and cold to help build texture - fully evident here. It's the brightness and what I like to term electricity that grabs you at the front of the glass. The minerality and texture are cru Chablis-like, and when you mix in a seashore breeze and flinty, saline notes flecked with bits of tropical fruit and five-spice, you sense a special, complex version of chardonnay that will age well through 2021. Impressive style with a big future – this is next world BC chardonnay. Serve with west coast oysters on the half shell.Tasted: 05 November 2018Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:| BC | $115.00 | 750ml | winery club members |
Grape: ChardonnayCSPC: 798280UPC: 776545800220
