Score: 88/100
This Languedoc Chardonnay white by Laurent Miquel is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes sourced from hillside vineyards on limestone and gravels soils.
After fermentation and maturation on lees in stainless steel tanks, it was aged in used French oak barrels for rounding it up and further refinement and complexity.
So just how good is Laurent Miquel Solas Chardonnay?
Tasting Notes
This Chardonnay of the Languedoc region of France comes in a lemon-yellow color of medium intensity, bright, shiny with subtle green hues.
The aromatic profile on the nose is on the grassy side of Chardonnay, no oak is perceptible, but rather notes of hay and acacia leaves.
Some nutty tones, like macadamia, come to back up a subtle creamy element to the smell, for a rather rich and generous feel.
Lemon peel and honey give some warmth and discrete impression of ripeness.
The palate feels much riper though. It’s oily and creamy, filled with nutty flavors of hazelnut and walnut, together with a slightly green bitterness: again, like acacia leaves.
Good acidity, although nothing outstanding, but well backed up by an iodine mineral feel.
Overall
An opulent and generous Chardonnay, with good complexity from ripe citrus fruit flavors combined with spices and nutty characters.
It does show some tension however, between slightly under-ripe notes of grass and the rich oily texture marker of sunny growing conditions for Chardonnay. One can tell Laurent Miquel has done his best to preserve freshness in this white wine by not picking too late and ripe, but the Southerly climate has not allowed the grapes to reach full aromatic ripeness even though the wine feels generous.
Laurent Miquel who’s an expert in Viognier wine demonstrates here that he can also use his white winemaking skills and his favorable limestone terroir to make a solid Chardonnay.
Enjoy 🙂
Check Out my Last Visit at Laurent Miquel in Video
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