Nya bekantskaper för mig - Ocean Eight Verve Chardonnay (2015) och Felton Road Bannockburn Chardonnay (2017).
Första dagen visar det sig att det blir litet som att jämföra David Bowie på kokain med Bing Crosby. Felton är en smörigt ekad och lyxigt förpackad showman som charmar direkt. Ocean Eight är The Thin White Duke - anemisk, svårförståelig och helt omöjlig att verkligen
gilla samtidigt som det inte går att helt avfärda som tunn och anemisk. Där finns kanske något?
Dag två har den leende ytan på Felton Road krackelerat och visar upp en dimmig gyllene färg med en mer elegant kropp och en doft full av bluesig salmiak. Tappar en notch i lyx och stil men vinner i aktning. Ocean Eight - som fortfarande är syradriven och krispig - har å sin sida hittat tillbaka till en mjuk, melodisk, rytm och när jag stänger ner alla andra intryck är där en kittlande myskig komplexitet som spelar på lägsta volym men lik en haiku finns där poesi för den som saktar ner tillräckligt mycket och lägger örat mot präriens gungande golv. Bifogar mina CT notes:
Felton Road: "Yah yah yah, there's some oak on this luscious libation. Day one the nose is full of that enticing vanillin and buttered toast and roasted hazelnuts, but on the palate there's perhaps a little soapy or candied feel, like chewy fruit candies and some spicy bite. Has body and a little heat but nothing is too much. Really enjoyable.
Day two I noticed the cloudy golden color which looks like unfiltered apple juice diluted with water from looking at it. On the nose there's at first a really dominant streak of ammonium chloride (salmiak) which just can't shake completely (but thankfully it dissipates somewhat after just an hour). The acidic material and the luxurious oak and the perfectly balanced fruit makes we wonder if this will not be able to shake juvenile bottle shock and come out on the other side much more in one piece.
In sum: Already showing signs of great. The nose was actually better day one - pop'n'pour - without the ammonium chloride, that is, if you don't mind being charmed by expensive new oak (like me), but the lemony elegance and acidic thrust of the body was more pronounced day two and bodes well for the future. The salty liquorice needs to tune out though for this to reach the very highest peaks."
Ocean Eight: "Yah, this is a seriously crispy chardonnay that is very tight and not so forgiving on the nose. On the palate it has more body than you first think. There's lemon juice, lemon drops and some lemon meringue. Green apple. Gunflint and old muskets fired in haste and the lingering taste of sassafras/root beer/old school tooth paste/childhood Swedish chewing gum jenka. Nice bite from the acids at the very end which lasts surprisingly long and makes me guess that this has a more than decent chance at a good future. Very easy to drink, craves oysters. Pure and ocean like (saline) with good verve so the naming of this cool climate chardonnay was very apt. Not a steal in terms of price but it would absolutely not feel ashamed of itself amongst some steely chablis of good pedigree I think.
Day two there's more on the nose - some timid musky complexity with them green'apples. But also slightly looser structure. A budding flower that needs air and time and patience and the music turned down to lower volume so you can hear it sing."
Poängmässigt... jag tvekar men om jag måste så kanske Felton var på 92 dag 1 och Ocean Eight på 86. Dag 2 möts de som Bing och David i en duett på 91. Båda har en framtid helt säkert men inte uppenbart tillsammans.
