2011 Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay

Norm's Tasting Notes
by:Norm Bentley
North Georgia Wine Advisor
normwine@bellsouth.net




2011 Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay
#nb-08-13

I have raved about my wife's "Special Shrimp Scampi" on numerous occasions in the past, and will probably do so again in the future. The "Chardonnay Queen" loves to cook with garlic and butter, and what better wine to go with this dish than a good California Chardonnay. The 2011 Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay was a great choice to pair with one of my most favorite seafood dinners!

We had sampled the 2010 vintage recently and found it to be quite good, with scores from critics being as high as 92. When we got to our local retailer, they had already advanced to the 2011 vintage, so we picked up this bottle to sample and opened it to go with our Shrimp Scampi. It was delightful. The grapes are sourced from KJ vineyards in both Monterrey and Santa Barbara Counties, and the juice was barrel fermented in mostly new French oak, producing a mild oak finish to accompany its 13.5% alcohol. Malolactic fermentation was introduced to produce the big fruit and buttery taste adding to the wine's complexity, and the end result is quite nice.

The big fruit flavor suggests a bit of lemon and lime citrus to complete the taste of mango and tropical fruit layered with the scent of orange blossom and pear. The wine ends in a clean and crisp goodbye which calls you back for another sip. The KJ was excellent with the Chardonnay Queen's "Special Shrimp Scampi" and would pair well with most any seafood or fowl entree. Norm's score is 90.

Score: 90
Price: $14 - $18

Norm
Norm's Tasting Notes can also be accessed at his Blog:
http://normwine.blogspot.com/

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