2012 Freestone Vineyards Chardonnay
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2012 Chardonnay Freestone Vineyard has turned out beautifully. Lemon oil, almonds, dried pears, spices and lightly honeyed notes meld together in an effortless, gracious wine long on personality and class. The oily, resonant finish is a thing of beauty.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Chardonnay Freestone Vineyards displays a light gold color with a green hue, and notes of orange rind, nectarine, tangerine and lemon blossom. Medium to full-bodied with terrific acidity, precision, purity and texture, it is a Burgundian-styled, classic cool-climate California Chardonnay. Drink now-2022.
(represents a blend of blocks; bottled in December of 2013): Inviting aromas of musky orange oil and hazelnutty, sulfidey lees. Savory and aromatic in the mouth, with vibrant acidity giving shape to the viscous mid-palate. Peach and spice flavors are complicated by minerals and earth. Finishes strong and perfumed. An excellent showing.
The 2012 Chardonnay Freestone Vineyard impresses for its cut, energy and tension. Lemon, white flowers, mint and crushed rocks are all very much alive in a wine that impresses for its vivid flavors and pure sense of mineral drive. I tasted the 2012 from tank just prior to bottling.
About the producer
California winery Joseph Phelps is best known for its flagship Insignia cuvée, one of the first and finest proprietary red wines in the Napa Valley.