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94POINTS
17½/20
CheckMate Artisanal Winery Queen Taken Chardonnay 2016
Golden Mile Bench, Oliver, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaQueen Taken Chardonnay is all about the 45-year-old vines of Dekleva Vineyard on the Golden Mile Bench. It is the coolest Checkmate site, where the old vine chardonnay is acclimatized to the true north environment, just west of the home Combret Estate Vineyard. It is planted to a chardonnay clone of unknown origin now being called the Dekleva Selection after the original family who planted it. The soils that define the Golden Mile Bench DVA and its DNA are predominantly coarse gravels. The entire winery has recently been renovated, and the 2016 chardonnays were the early benefactors of the high-end refit. There was no rush to pick in 2016, and winemaker Phil McGahan got all he could from the site. The nose is an intriguing mix of minerality, wet stones and stone fruits that draw you into the glass. The palate is intense with rich veins of nectarines and ripe red apples riding a beam of bright acidity. Texture, mouthfeel, minerality, length: it is all here, and will be through the next decade.Tasted: 18 October 2019Tasted by: Prices:| BC | $125.00 | 750ml | winery direct, restaurants, select private wine shops |
Grape: ChardonnayCSPC: 514984UPC: 776545801548
