Hundred Acre Gold

2004 (?) Hundred Acre Gold ($27) -- Every week I taste through about 50 plus wines as the wine reps come and go, and occassionally I will visit a trade show and power through 30 plus wines in an afternoon (spitting of course!), and not much stops me in my tracks. Oh, I have been overwhelmed by a great wine, and a few great bargains that taste twice or three times their price, but not many wines demand that I stop what I am doing and jump on the Internet to tell a story.

First thing you notice is the gold lettering on the clear bottle. I tried to find a picture but all the bottle shots are different than the wine I tasted today. There is no info on the company site as there is no company site that I could find. (The future site of Gold Wine is coming soon!) Next you notice is that there are gold flakes floating IN the bottle. 24K Gold! I am a trusting soul so I assume it is OK to drink them. Good thing they didn't call their new wine "Lead"!

I couldn't find a vintage date although it was bottled in 2005. And there is some confusion as to whether this is Barossa juice shipped to Napa and bottled, or if it a new release of Napa juice. I am told it is a blend of Chardonnay, Viognier and Gewurztraminer with no oak or malo. It has full fruit flavors, maybe be slightly off-dry with good balance and medium finish and a full mouth feel. I did like it, plus the novelty of the gold, and the packaging and the Hundred Acre name, so I am in for 1 case. I heard it is big in the "clubs" in Vegas and the Playboy Mansion, so I figure it will really fly out of here to Indian Hill and Hyde Park, particularly if the High Schoolers find out about it! Just kidding!

There is a 2003 article from SFGate.com about the winemaker Philippe Melka and I still have 2 three-packs of the 2002 Cab if anyone is interested.