Pyramid Valley Chardonnay Lion’s Tooth Vineyard Canterbury 2020 750 ML

The 2020 Lion’s Tooth Chardonnay is a totally different proposition to the Field of Fire Chardonnay from the same vintage. The wine is retained and placid on the nose … the latent power of the thing is evident from the very first sniff. It is saturated with the curry leaf/cheesecloth/brine/preserved citrus notes that I associate with this producer, but the long throw of distance that the aromatics propose hint at great things. In the mouth, the wine speaks of crushed/salted/roasted nuts, red apple skins, peach fuzz and a hint of the little calcium deposits/flecks that one can find in Comte/Pradera cheese. That’s why I eat those cheeses, and that’s what I see here. What an exciting wine. Pure in its fruit profile, powerful in its acid/phenolic interplay, and so long through the finish. Yes! This is why we drink Chardonnay.