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93POINTS
17¼/20
CheckMate Artisanal Winery Fool's Mate Chardonnay 2016
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaOne of the perks of wine writing is the opportunity to take part in vertical tastings once in a while to track a single wine through several vintages. It's the ultimate test of a wine's ability to express each vintage while revealing its fingerprint and, even more important, to demonstrate whether it can age over time in the bottle. On this day, we tasted every vintage of Fool's Mate from 2013-to 2017. As young as the winery is, it was a revelation. We learned that the original ageing window, thought to be about five years by winemaker Phil McGahan, is quickly expanding into the 7-10 year range as the wines evolve in the bottle. 2016 continues to progress. It's still showing some oak upfront, but that will eventually disappear into the back of the wine as the freshness over the lean frame begins to assert itself. The predominant flavours are peach and nectarine, aided by lemon, hints of brioche, excellent minerality, and a delightful palate-cleansing sea salt finish. It should be ready to go by 2023 through 2025.Tasted: 04 February 2020Tasted by: Prices:| BC | $80.00 | 750ml | winery direct, restaurants, select private wine shops |
Grape: ChardonnayCSPC: 628917UPC: 776545801623
