So sad. We just finished the last bottle in our case of Stony Hill, my absolute favorite chardonnay from California (OK, I admit to not liking many of them). We fell in love with it when visited the charming, beautiful vineyard way back in 2001. Not the normal tourist-trap Napa experience - you have to make an appointment, the numbers of visitors are limited, and it's far away from the drunken hordes, perched at the top of a mountain with a breathtaking view of the valley below. It's such a small operation - a family-run vineyard dating back more than 50 years - that it's hard to find the wines here in New York. I've only seen it in really fancy restaurants, where it's way too expensive for the likes of me. My mom visited Stony Hill in June and sent us this case. We only drank it when we thought our cooking worthy of the wine - it was not allowed to accompany take-out, or any dish we thought might overwhelm the delicate yet multi-faceted flavor. Unlike most of those oaky, huge CA chardonnays, this one is crisp and minerally, just like they make them in Burgundy. It is not timid, though - its rich, complex stone fruit flavors assert themselves and compliment a wide variety of dishes, as long as there's a little fat to coax out all the nuances. It was especially good with flounder under dill souffle (which sounds more complicated than it is), chicken roasted with rosemary and preserved lemon, and pasta with red pepper sauce and goat cheese. I want more Stony Hill! I think I'll order a case so that I can again go through the complicated process of lugging a few bottles home every day on the subway (we don't have a doorman at home, so all our packages go to my office). It will be SO worth it.
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