TASTING NOTES:
Medium yellow with a light gold tinge, the 2022 Chardonnay Casteel has lovely light reductive and briny notes, a jasmine floral profile, and hints of fresh golden apples and lemon oils. Full-bodied, how could you not love this? It’s a lovely, outstanding wine with a fantastic, long finish. A true pleasure-packed wine, it taps into just joyful, hedonistic pleasure. Outstanding. Drink 2024-2040.
- Jeb Dunnuck, 97 pts.
A ripe and fleshy iteration of the Casteel Chardonnay from Bethel Heights shows an impressive depth of fruit. The Casteel is a barrel selection from the oldest vines planted in 1977 and the adjacent block planted in 1994, on the Eola-Amity Hills estate site. Weighty aromatics of lemon curd and roast almonds are lifted by notes of briny oyster shells and dried white flowers. The palate shows a rich ripe stone fruited density. Grilled peach, honeyed apricot and white tea leaves mingle with sappy Meyer lemon pulp and a tangy candied orange peel finish
- Decanter, 95 pts.
The 2022 Chardonnay Casteel has deep aromas of peach, honey, pie crust and hints of crème fraîche. The light-bodied palate offers delicate, gently honeyed notes—it seems to have closed significantly since bottling. Its shy fruit is structured by bright acidity, and it has an elegant, perfumed finish. Give it 2-3+ years in the bottle. 93+
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 93 pts.
Sweetly floral, the 2022 Chardonnay Casteel opens with a lovely blend of white flowers and raw almonds complementing crushed apples and pears. This opens with a lovely inner sweetness, seamlessly silky and refined, with crisp orchard fruits and hints of spice toward the close. The 2022 tapers off with an abundance of tension and a coating of saline minerals, leaving an herbal tinge as the senses salivate for more. Crunchy, packed full of complexity and wonderfully balanced, this is impossible to ignore.
- Vinous, 93 pts.
Brisk and steely, with focused apple, lemon verbena and spice flavors that build tension toward the vibrant finish. Drink now.
- Wine Spectator, 92 pts.
