“Touches of nutmeg and vanilla fill the nose of this full-bodied and full-flavored wine. The texture is smooth and creamy, while a touch of acidity helps balance all that richness.” — Jim Gordon, February 2019
Aromatically beautiful with an inviting mix of white peach, lemon oil and kiwi floral notes. The palate is fresh, elegant and balanced. Flavors of grapefruit, Asian pear, lime and subtle graham cracker spice emerge with a long, lingering finish. With generous layers of vibrant citrus and white floral notes, this medium bodied Chardonnay offers a plush texture and balanced acidity with a long, flavorful finish.
Vintage Conditions
California’s continued drought extended into the 2016 growing season, but February welcomed significant rainfall and mild temperatures. Spring showers helped slow the early bud break and continued mild temperatures allowed the grapes to ripen evenly and reach full flavor maturity.
Specs
Vintage: 2016
Varietal Compostion: 100% Chardonnay
Appellation: North Coast, primarily Sonoma and Napa Counties
Barrel Regime: 100% French Oak (10% new) for 10 months 50% Malolactic Fermentation
Alcohol: 14.8%
Included in the Box
6-bottles:
6x 2016 St Huberts The Stag Chardonnay, North Coast
Case:
12x 2016 St Huberts The Stag Chardonnay, North Coast
St Huberts the winery was founded in 1862 in Victoria, Australia, by Swiss-Australian writer, artist and winemaking pioneer, Hubert de Castella. It was believed he named the winery not after himself but his patron saint, St Hubert. Following his instincts, de Castella was one of the first to plant vines in the Yarra Valley region of Victoria, and went on to develop a much-acclaimed range of bold, sophisticated wines.
The Stag is inspired by the tale of a hunt when a great stag valiantly jumped to escape its pursuers and mysteriously disappeared into the fog. We’re still on that hunt today, to find the sturdiest vines and the best grapes throughout the North Coast to produce the most sophisticated wines. The Stag is a testament to the pursuit of those goals, and to the fight shown by the resilient stag.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, KS, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VT, WA, WV, WI
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 St Huberts The Stag Chardonnay - $20 = 15.38%
With apologies for the delay as there were technical issues this morning.
Lovely candy grape smell, not too overpowering, more like the flavor palate a little while after popping a fresh grape. This is a taste you want to savor — Very pleasant and deceptively mellow, not over sweet evoking a touch of lime and pear and my wife swears perhaps even a sneaky hint of peppercorn?
Initially tried this by itself (best), but seems like it would pair well a mushroom dish or a halibut with a caper & cream sauce. Avoid a dish that would overpower it’s beautiful bouquet as you go.
Suggest you avoid paring with dark chocolate.
It avoids the brett trap, and instead evokes a soft call to the end of summer’s day on the lake or perhaps more aptly - a breezy walk along the north coast.
Continues to mellow out second day (though we really just wanted to finish it, we were patient).
@rjquillin The type of yeast/way of prep & age they used avoided strong aromas and give better mouthfeel taste. Brett refers to Brettanomyces vs Saccharomyces yeasty beasties that tend to creep into whites. Sometimes they do it on purpose, sometimes not. I promise I’m not trying to fancy talk it, but some white (not Chardonnays too often) get a sweaty smell to them in addition to the other flavors. This neatly avoided it altogether, while not unusual in a Chardonnay, definitely made the mouthfeel even better.
@imshadow22
Brett I’m familiar with, (still a nice link) and while I can’t think of why it isn’t more common in whites (not a winemaker), I’m challenged to find an example of it in a white, hence the “???” trap comment.
@klezman@rjquillin@ttboy23 nothing suspicious here, just don’t care for when the wine (yes, whites) the armpit smell and acrid taste can sometimes invade. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so not sure what else you were looking for. Honestly, just hope you enjoy this wine. It’s good.
Wife doesn’t usually like whites, but she really enjoyed this one and so did I. For what its worth, we did order it, and it was a nice surprise from Casemates. Thanks Casemates!
@imshadow22@rjquillin@ttboy23 I don’t think anybody was challenging your tastes or preferences. Most people don’t want their wine to smell like armpit! I was just asking about your terminology of the “brett trap”. At this point I’m guessing you mean those few winemakers who intentionally cultivate or encourage brett in their whites?
@imshadow22@klezman@rjquillin@ttboy23
It had nothing to do with suspicion and everything to do with the opening line (“We’re caught in a trap”). I have a habit of posting videos that are more or less related to products/discussions. This one probably falls more towards “less” but it was meant simply as a tongue in cheek diversion.
@kaolis Good background info. Just wanted to point out that this appears to be a different Chardonnay than described there. This is North Coast and that mentions Santa Barbara.
2016 St Huberts The Stag Chardonnay, North Coast
Tasting Notes
90 Points, Wine Enthusiast
Vintage Conditions
Specs
Included in the Box
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $240/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, KS, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VT, WA, WV, WI
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Oct 5 - Wednesday, Oct 7
St Huberts The Stag Chardonnay
6 bottles for $64.99 $10.83/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $109.99 $9.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2016 St Huberts The Stag Chardonnay
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 St Huberts The Stag Chardonnay - $20 = 15.38%
(speaking into microphone on stage) “Hello, is this thing on?”
I don’t think we’ve ever gone 10 hours after the initial posts with zero comments.
Bring on the Rats!
@83fxwg Bring on anyone at this point. Rats, mice, cats, whatever, just liven up my day a bit!
How about I just say pretty image on the bottle, lol
/giphy not a rat
Like this wine but again, Ohio is excluded.
With apologies for the delay as there were technical issues this morning.
Lovely candy grape smell, not too overpowering, more like the flavor palate a little while after popping a fresh grape. This is a taste you want to savor — Very pleasant and deceptively mellow, not over sweet evoking a touch of lime and pear and my wife swears perhaps even a sneaky hint of peppercorn?
Initially tried this by itself (best), but seems like it would pair well a mushroom dish or a halibut with a caper & cream sauce. Avoid a dish that would overpower it’s beautiful bouquet as you go.
Suggest you avoid paring with dark chocolate.
It avoids the brett trap, and instead evokes a soft call to the end of summer’s day on the lake or perhaps more aptly - a breezy walk along the north coast.
Continues to mellow out second day (though we really just wanted to finish it, we were patient).
@imshadow22
???
@rjquillin The type of yeast/way of prep & age they used avoided strong aromas and give better mouthfeel taste. Brett refers to Brettanomyces vs Saccharomyces yeasty beasties that tend to creep into whites. Sometimes they do it on purpose, sometimes not. I promise I’m not trying to fancy talk it, but some white (not Chardonnays too often) get a sweaty smell to them in addition to the other flavors. This neatly avoided it altogether, while not unusual in a Chardonnay, definitely made the mouthfeel even better.
TLDR; This actually explains the difference pretty well to 'Oh! so that’s what that is!" –
https://daily.sevenfifty.com/the-everything-guide-to-brettanomyces
I hope this helps!
@imshadow22
Brett I’m familiar with, (still a nice link) and while I can’t think of why it isn’t more common in whites (not a winemaker), I’m challenged to find an example of it in a white, hence the “???” trap comment.
@imshadow22 @rjquillin yes, you don’t want to get caught up in the “trap”.
@imshadow22 @rjquillin @ttboy23 Still have no idea what the “trap” is.
@imshadow22 @rjquillin @ttboy23 Of course any youngsters out here probably don’t recall the Cordier era of fine wine
@imshadow22 @rjquillin @ttboy23
@klezman @rjquillin @ttboy23 nothing suspicious here, just don’t care for when the wine (yes, whites) the armpit smell and acrid taste can sometimes invade. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so not sure what else you were looking for. Honestly, just hope you enjoy this wine. It’s good.
Wife doesn’t usually like whites, but she really enjoyed this one and so did I. For what its worth, we did order it, and it was a nice surprise from Casemates. Thanks Casemates!
@imshadow22 @rjquillin @ttboy23 I don’t think anybody was challenging your tastes or preferences. Most people don’t want their wine to smell like armpit! I was just asking about your terminology of the “brett trap”. At this point I’m guessing you mean those few winemakers who intentionally cultivate or encourage brett in their whites?
@imshadow22 @klezman @rjquillin @ttboy23
It had nothing to do with suspicion and everything to do with the opening line (“We’re caught in a trap”). I have a habit of posting videos that are more or less related to products/discussions. This one probably falls more towards “less” but it was meant simply as a tongue in cheek diversion.
Some info here, posted this on the previous offering. Just a little background
https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2020/06/16/st-huberts-the-stag-introduces-three-new-central-coast-wines
@kaolis Good background info. Just wanted to point out that this appears to be a different Chardonnay than described there. This is North Coast and that mentions Santa Barbara.
@pmarin The Stag, as mentioned, is very resilient. Evading the fog of many a county both near and far…
@kaolis Fog, yeah, but what about smoke?