2019 Iron Horse UnOaked Chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Sonoma
Tasting Notes
Freshly cut, juicy apples shine brightly in this delicious wine, which manages to be both crisp and creamy, bright with acidity, and rich in texture. The 2019 vintage is balanced and lengthy. A beautiful expression of the Iron Horse estate in cool, foggy Green Valley.
The nose on this vintage has juicy red apple, lychee fruit, dried stone fruit, and hints of tropical fruit. Citrus notes on the front palate, with juicy apple following amazing acidity throughout the mouth and a touch of pear on the end with a sophisticated finish.
Artisanal Winemaking
All of our Chardonnay is handled one lot at a time. Only as the grapes arrive at the winery do we decide how to treat them. Sometimes it is straight to the press as whole clusters, while other times a cold soak might be necessary. All of the UnOaked Chardonnay had an overnight skin contact soaking before pressing to control acidity with a cold stainless steel fermentation (between 60f and 63f) to retain esters, i.e., brightness, minerality, and exotic fruit elements.
Precision Winegrowing
At Iron Horse āEstate Bottledā means that the winemaking begins in the vineyard. Our location in Green Valley represents the very best soil, climate, and aspects for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Our goal is to grow the best winegrapes what we call āprecision farming.ā All pruning, canopy management, irrigation, and cover crop decisions are determined on a block-by-block (and sometimes even vine-by-vine) basis, considering both the vintage at hand and the long-term needs of the land.
Specs
Appellation: Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Sonoma County
Blend: 78% Hyde Old Wente Clone, 22% Rued Clone Chardonnay
Alcohol: 14%
Acidity: 5.7 g/L
Residual Sugar: <.2 g/L
pH: 3.31
Malolactic Fermentation: None
Barrels: None
Harvest Dates: September 11 ā26, 2019
Date Bottled: November 4, 2020
Total Production: 2280 Cases
Whatās Included
6-bottles:
6x 2019 Iron Horse UnOaked Chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Sonoma
Case:
12x 2019 Iron Horse UnOaked Chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Sonoma
Iron Horse is one of Sonoma Countyās most prestigious, small, independent, estate, family-owned wineries located in cool, foggy Green Valley. Iron Horse Sparkling Wines have been served at the White House for five consecutive presidential administrations, beginning with the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit Meeting in Geneva on November 20, 1985, which led to the end of the Cold War. Wine & Spirits Magazine has named Iron Horse Sparkling Winery of the Year nine times. From the beginning, Robert Parker has said, āThese impressive Sparkling Winesā¦possess more texture and flavor than just about any sparkler I have tasted from California.ā
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2019 Iron Horse Vineyards UnOaked Chardonnay - $35 = 19.44%
We just had a bottle of this with dinner tonight/Friday night. Iām not sure which vintage. Iāll have to check in the morning. This is a screaming good dea!
Weāre having a wine tasting at our church on the 27th. Weāre thinking of doing a comparison pour: oaked vs unoaked Chardonnay. Which should we pour first?
@bahwm My humble def do the unoaked first. Not to āplagiarize the W&S review below, but the oaked is going to have layers of flavor that the stainless wonāt. So youāll be going from a simpler wine, maybe wrong term, to a more complex wine.
@bahwm@kaolis Thanks for your thoughts. I think that makes sense. We still havenāt settled which of us is going to be doing that part of the event. Iām thinking we should limit it to 20 or 30 minutes. Thereās plenty of other wines to pour, and itās only a 2-hour event (not my choice). Not meaning to be snarky, but this is an audience without a lot of sophistication when it comes to wine, and my tendency as a career educator is to offer them an experience they wonāt otherwise get.
Itās very watery (no legs). Very drinkable. I think this would be perfect for some kind of white wine cocktail.
Itās more of a āsavoryā white wine, though it doesnāt seem to pair well with savory food (chicken and rice, a very late ādinnerā of sorts). maybe a sweeter or spicier dish would work better.
I forgot to mention the aroma. Usually I canāt much tell what a wine smells like, but this one is actually fairly pronounced. Itās very floral and honey-like.Reminds me of an apple stall in an open-air market.
Nope, stuff came up and I just didnāt have time to write a āstoryā like usual. Iāll save it for next time. Hope the amateur tasting notes helped people, though.
Autobuy for me! The previous offer wasnāt available in MO for some reason, and weāre almost out from the previous offer where Iāve think I bought 2 cases.
/giphy confusing-wistful-snow
Yay! Love any Iron Horse, and the Unoaked Chard is a great versatile wine. I have bought this in at least 4 different years and this vintage is certainly right on the mark again. Bright, light, acid first, then citrus, little pith, nice minerality (wet rock) on the finish. This is good on itās own, would be great on a hot summer night, but it really shines with fatty foods/oils. I paired it with air fryer pork belly and an arugala salad with Greek dressing and feta. The fatty pork tames some of the forward acidity, letting the citrus shine through and the minerality finish blends nicely. I was pleasantly surprised that the combination also seemed to tame some of the bitterness in the arugula. I dug a triple cream Brie out of the fridge and it was lovely with that as well. Iād add apples/walnuts, but the 2 year old is yelling for me. Putting the rest in the fridge for tomorrow and see if it keeps.
Day 2, little more acidic on the first drink. Paired with roasted lemon pepper chicken thighs. Chicken is not quite fatty enough to keep up with the wine, but itās not bad. Thereās some astringency there tonight that wasnāt there last night, and the minerality is more tingly than smooth. I think this is better the first day, but itās certainly still serviceable the next day.
Anything under $15/bottle is great for this wine. Thanks Iron Horse!
@kaolis
Itās super easy, itās just a dry rub of a tablespoon or 2 of brown sugar, salt/pepper and garlic to taste, let it marinate for a least an hour to overnight. I have an outdoor woodfire with the air crisp function, so I cook it on a baking rack rather than the grill surface at 300 for 30 minutes if in a slab, 15 minutes if in strips, and then crank up to 450 for about 5 minutes. I put foil under the baking rack and itās incredibly easy to clean up.
Did someone say Halloween Spirits? No? Oh, you said Wine & Spirits? Yes thatās itā¦well they happened to taste this wine Oct '21:
91 Points. Fully ripe, this wine has plenty of structure and depth without the layers afforded by oak. Itās plump and luscious with pear and ginger flavors. A juicy, bold Chardonnay to enjoy chilled on the deck or at dinner with lemony, buttery roast cod. - J.G.
@kaolis wow, very different from the 2 rats. The sour, acidic, and bitter notes are deterring me. Perhaps 2 years longer in the bottle changed its profile.
@irenegade@kaolis I wouldnāt let sour and bitter notes deter me. Those are such different characteristics that Iād be likely to dismiss them completely, especially when coming from one who admits they donāt like white wines. Iāve had the '07, '09, '12, '13, '14, '18, and '19 (canāt explain the coverage gaps, sorry), and they have always been outstanding. As bahwm may have posted elsewhere on this thread, Iron Horse Unoaked Chardonnay is pretty much our house pour when it comes to that varietal, even at the winery price less my wine club discount (No, Iām not a shill for the winery).
The bottle we had last night was a 2018. We have some 2019s in house. We may have to pop a cork Sunday. I pulled the trigger on a case last night. ddeuddeg and I drink a lot of this wine and it! Thank you @WineDavid and Joy!
@alice
Thank you very much for the lovely glass Casemates glass. Iām sure it was intended that I use that to lab rat with, however, with the above mentioned 2 and a half year old, nothing glass is coming out of the cupboard for awhile. I will put it up with the other glassware until itās safer.
Informal (unofficial) Labrat report:
We pulled a bottle out of our stash to enjoy with dinner tonight. Popped the cork, and got some really nice green apple on the nose, tasted the same apple flavor, but with considerable (expected) minerality. With the gingery butternut squash soup, it showed the tart apple, but with a citrus component that I thought tasted like grapefruit, a flavor that always turns me off in Sauvignon Blanc, and which Iāve never encountered in a Chardonnay, but here, it was quite nice.
As the wine warmed up, and we turned to the main course, a shrimp, avocado, and tomato salad, with a red onion, jalapeƱo, cilantro, and lime juice dressing, the character of the wine changed dramatically. Paired with the acidity of the citrus juice in the salad, it mellowed significantly. This was a smoothness I donāt usually encounter in a chardonnay. Not complaining at all, but it was unexpected. Nice to know how well this wine will stand up to a high-acid food, whereas many others would come off as too tart. If you havenāt bought it yet, thereās still time, but you only have a few hours.
2019 Iron Horse UnOaked Chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Sonoma
Tasting Notes
Artisanal Winemaking
Precision Winegrowing
Specs
Whatās Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$384.00/Case for 12x 2019 Iron Horse UnOaked Chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Sonoma at Iron Horse
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Nov 6 - Thursday, Nov 9
2019 Iron Horse Vineyards UnOaked Chardonnay
6 bottles for $89.99 $15/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $144.99 $12.08/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Previous offer:
4/1/23
Wow, killer price!
@klezman beats the snot out of the 'tso price I paid
@klezman @rjquillin wtso was $15.99 free ship, so comp to the 6 bottle offer here and not much worse than the case price
@klezman @rjquillin at least it was $15.99 a few weeks ago, just like here it keeps popping up
@kaolis @klezman @rjquillin this shows up so regularly on wtso I donāt feel overly compelled to buy. Is a very enjoyable Wine for sure.
@klezman @rjquillin damn straight!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2019 Iron Horse Vineyards UnOaked Chardonnay - $35 = 19.44%
We just had a bottle of this with dinner tonight/Friday night. Iām not sure which vintage. Iāll have to check in the morning. This is a screaming good dea!
Weāre having a wine tasting at our church on the 27th. Weāre thinking of doing a comparison pour: oaked vs unoaked Chardonnay. Which should we pour first?
@bahwm My humble def do the unoaked first. Not to āplagiarize the W&S review below, but the oaked is going to have layers of flavor that the stainless wonāt. So youāll be going from a simpler wine, maybe wrong term, to a more complex wine.
@kaolis Thank you for your thoughts. Thatās pretty much what I was thinking.
@bahwm @kaolis Thanks for your thoughts. I think that makes sense. We still havenāt settled which of us is going to be doing that part of the event. Iām thinking we should limit it to 20 or 30 minutes. Thereās plenty of other wines to pour, and itās only a 2-hour event (not my choice). Not meaning to be snarky, but this is an audience without a lot of sophistication when it comes to wine, and my tendency as a career educator is to offer them an experience they wonāt otherwise get.
This one kind of took me by surprise, so Iāll have a review later today (it should be a fun one).
But in the meantime, I just popped this thing open and can provide a few tasting notes in real time.
Itās not as tart as other white wines Iāve tried (Iām not much of a white wine drinker, though).
It actually feels a tiny bit sweet (but still sour and bitter, like dry white wines are).
Iād say somewhere around 6-7 on the dryness scale.
Very slight fizz.
Not getting any tannins, but maybe there are and Iām just weird.
Almost no alcohol burn.
I know that saying this is about as clichƩ as rhyming a word with itself in a song, but this really does taste like sour grapes to me. Maybe a hint of melon rind?
Itās very watery (no legs). Very drinkable. I think this would be perfect for some kind of white wine cocktail.
Itās more of a āsavoryā white wine, though it doesnāt seem to pair well with savory food (chicken and rice, a very late ādinnerā of sorts). maybe a sweeter or spicier dish would work better.
I forgot to mention the aroma. Usually I canāt much tell what a wine smells like, but this one is actually fairly pronounced. Itās very floral and honey-like.Reminds me of an apple stall in an open-air market.
Nope, stuff came up and I just didnāt have time to write a āstoryā like usual. Iāll save it for next time. Hope the amateur tasting notes helped people, though.
Autobuy for me! The previous offer wasnāt available in MO for some reason, and weāre almost out from the previous offer where Iāve think I bought 2 cases.
/giphy confusing-wistful-snow
Just to confirm I am not missing something, this is the same offering as we had in April (vintage/wine)?
2019 Iron Horse Unoaked Chardonnay
Yay! Love any Iron Horse, and the Unoaked Chard is a great versatile wine. I have bought this in at least 4 different years and this vintage is certainly right on the mark again. Bright, light, acid first, then citrus, little pith, nice minerality (wet rock) on the finish. This is good on itās own, would be great on a hot summer night, but it really shines with fatty foods/oils. I paired it with air fryer pork belly and an arugala salad with Greek dressing and feta. The fatty pork tames some of the forward acidity, letting the citrus shine through and the minerality finish blends nicely. I was pleasantly surprised that the combination also seemed to tame some of the bitterness in the arugula. I dug a triple cream Brie out of the fridge and it was lovely with that as well. Iād add apples/walnuts, but the 2 year old is yelling for me. Putting the rest in the fridge for tomorrow and see if it keeps.
Day 2, little more acidic on the first drink. Paired with roasted lemon pepper chicken thighs. Chicken is not quite fatty enough to keep up with the wine, but itās not bad. Thereās some astringency there tonight that wasnāt there last night, and the minerality is more tingly than smooth. I think this is better the first day, but itās certainly still serviceable the next day.
Anything under $15/bottle is great for this wine. Thanks Iron Horse!
@mtb002 never thought of belly and air fryerā¦looks tasty
@kaolis
Itās super easy, itās just a dry rub of a tablespoon or 2 of brown sugar, salt/pepper and garlic to taste, let it marinate for a least an hour to overnight. I have an outdoor woodfire with the air crisp function, so I cook it on a baking rack rather than the grill surface at 300 for 30 minutes if in a slab, 15 minutes if in strips, and then crank up to 450 for about 5 minutes. I put foil under the baking rack and itās incredibly easy to clean up.
Did someone say Halloween Spirits? No? Oh, you said Wine & Spirits? Yes thatās itā¦well they happened to taste this wine Oct '21:
91 Points. Fully ripe, this wine has plenty of structure and depth without the layers afforded by oak. Itās plump and luscious with pear and ginger flavors. A juicy, bold Chardonnay to enjoy chilled on the deck or at dinner with lemony, buttery roast cod. - J.G.
fwiw
@kaolis wow, very different from the 2 rats. The sour, acidic, and bitter notes are deterring me. Perhaps 2 years longer in the bottle changed its profile.
@irenegade @kaolis I wouldnāt let sour and bitter notes deter me. Those are such different characteristics that Iād be likely to dismiss them completely, especially when coming from one who admits they donāt like white wines. Iāve had the '07, '09, '12, '13, '14, '18, and '19 (canāt explain the coverage gaps, sorry), and they have always been outstanding. As bahwm may have posted elsewhere on this thread, Iron Horse Unoaked Chardonnay is pretty much our house pour when it comes to that varietal, even at the winery price less my wine club discount (No, Iām not a shill for the winery).
@ddeuddeg what are your tasting notes on this 2019?
@irenegade I wish I could help with that, but we rarely spend the time to write notes on the wines we enjoy with our daily meals.
@ddeuddeg @irenegade That said, weāre going to pop this cork with tonightās dinner and one of us will write up an informal Rat report.
@irenegade Check below for the notes from tonight. Sorry it took so long.
Count me in! Iām down to my last bottle and this one is a crowd pleaser.
/giphy judicial-rural-number
The bottle we had last night was a 2018. We have some 2019s in house. We may have to pop a cork Sunday. I pulled the trigger on a case last night. ddeuddeg and I drink a lot of this wine and
it! Thank you @WineDavid and Joy!
I love Iron Horse wines. Too bad the lab rats werenāt Chardonnay drinkers. In for a case!
@winecatlady
Chardonnay is pretty heavy in my rotation. I donāt drink reds much.
/giphy versed-buttered-hour
/giphy clever-authentic-bait
@alice
Thank you very much for the lovely glass Casemates glass. Iām sure it was intended that I use that to lab rat with, however, with the above mentioned 2 and a half year old, nothing glass is coming out of the cupboard for awhile. I will put it up with the other glassware until itās safer.
Informal (unofficial) Labrat report:
We pulled a bottle out of our stash to enjoy with dinner tonight. Popped the cork, and got some really nice green apple on the nose, tasted the same apple flavor, but with considerable (expected) minerality. With the gingery butternut squash soup, it showed the tart apple, but with a citrus component that I thought tasted like grapefruit, a flavor that always turns me off in Sauvignon Blanc, and which Iāve never encountered in a Chardonnay, but here, it was quite nice.
As the wine warmed up, and we turned to the main course, a shrimp, avocado, and tomato salad, with a red onion, jalapeƱo, cilantro, and lime juice dressing, the character of the wine changed dramatically. Paired with the acidity of the citrus juice in the salad, it mellowed significantly. This was a smoothness I donāt usually encounter in a chardonnay. Not complaining at all, but it was unexpected. Nice to know how well this wine will stand up to a high-acid food, whereas many others would come off as too tart. If you havenāt bought it yet, thereās still time, but you only have a few hours.