Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: 93 points

($80; 80% new oak; from a blend of Hyde, Hudson, Mount Eden and Corton-Charlemagne clones; 15.3% alcohol) Yellow-green. Flamboyant aromas of pineapple, dried apricot, crushed stone and candle wax, with some oaky sweetness showing. Powerful, slightly aggressive flavors of sappy pineapple and crushed stone are a bit less smooth than those of the Ritchie, which offers the creaminess of old vines (it's from a 1971 planting), but this chardonnay, from seven-year-old vines, boasts terrific intensity and length and has the acid backbone to age. Give this lots of air if you open it anytime soon.

Review date: May 2007