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17/20
CheckMate Artisanal Winery Queen's Advantage Chardonnay 2016
Golden Mile Bench, Oliver, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaThe newest Checkmate chardonnay is Queen’s Advantage. The name is a nod to the unknown clone that inhabits Combret Vineyard, the winery’s estate plot, now considered to be among the oldest chardonnay vines in the country, planted in 1973. The gnarly old vines, deeply rooted in the Golden Mile Bench sub GI, are tapped into the calcium-carbonate coated stones buried deep into the rocky hillside site. The vineyard has been lovingly brought back to life using precision agriculture. It has taken some time for the vines to adapt to the new regime, but it was evident in 2016 that the site is beginning to express its full potential. After the super hot 2015 growing season, 2016 delivers an outstanding crop of grapes. The nose is open with peach, apricot, and honey, and showing some complexity. The style is more luxurious and rounder with flavours of butterscotch and apricot compote. The fermentation is up to 90 percent native, and the wine is aged 16 months in French oak barrels, 50 percent of which are new. It should be ready to drink in 2020 through 2025. Think crab or lobster dishes to be the early match.Tasted: 05 December 2019Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:| BC | $85.00 | 750ml | winery direct |
| BC | $190.00 | 1500ml | winery direct |
Grape: ChardonnayUPC: 776545801210
