The Hudson, Hyde and Ritchie are out. Anyone taste them? Thx.

Hi,

The '04 Hyde was outstanding....even for someone who is not a big Chardonnay drinker. I tasted it last month at a big tasting down in New Orleans, and it was the best Chardonnay of the day. Loads of butterscotch and honey on the nose, plenty of tart apple and pineapple, and loads of sweet fruit. Some oak, but it was integrated nicely. The palate really sings with butterscotch and caramel, apple, pineapple, mango, and lemon. Really just a great wine. I rated it 94-95 pts, easy.

Ciao!

Jenny


PS--- It was so good that I went out and bought a few bottles the very next day, which is something I never do, so it must have been really good!

Jimmy, the 05 Hyde is out now. I've had the 04 many times over the last year. It is a very good wine.

I had the 05 Ramey Hyde recently.  It was very good but disappointing in the context of Ramey SVD Chardonnay.  I think the buy from Ramey is the Ritchie.  While I haven't tasted the 05 yet, I thought the 04 Ritchie was truly great.

I bought both the Hyde and Ritchie from '03 and loved them both, with a slight nod to the Ritchie.  Bought a couple of '04 Hydes and have one left. Never found the Ritchie at a low enough price.  will keep an eye out for the '05s, but with the prices of these, the Appellation series Chards may be the way to go. Terrific quality for the price.

The 05 Ritchie is a strong buy imo.  While my family was in Utah for the first week of March, the local (state run) got in a case of the 05 Ritchie.  After repeated visits, we polished off more than half of that case.  We would have bought more but in between visits other people bought the rest.