I finally found a single remaining bottle of Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc
Sonoma 1993 that had been misplaced. I was expecting it to be too old
and had another wine in reserve. However the Ferrari-Carano had no
trace of oxidation or other off character. It is now much smoother than
I remember it, has a bit of gooseberry fruit, and some flinty mineral
character. I think the wine was a bit better when younger, but not
much. It has held up better than many fancy California Chardonnays of
like age.

In article . com>,
"cwdjrxyz" > wrote:

> I finally found a single remaining bottle of Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc
> Sonoma 1993 that had been misplaced. I was expecting it to be too old
> and had another wine in reserve. However the Ferrari-Carano had no
> trace of oxidation or other off character. It is now much smoother than
> I remember it, has a bit of gooseberry fruit, and some flinty mineral
> character. I think the wine was a bit better when younger, but not
> much. It has held up better than many fancy California Chardonnays of
> like age.

Interesting, I have what I consider an old bottle of F-C Fume Blanc from
1998 that I was considering using for cooking. I guess I will have to
try it!

In article . com>, spamtrap2
@cwdjr.info says...
>
>I finally found a single remaining bottle of Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc
>Sonoma 1993 that had been misplaced. I was expecting it to be too old
>and had another wine in reserve. However the Ferrari-Carano had no
>trace of oxidation or other off character. It is now much smoother than
>I remember it, has a bit of gooseberry fruit, and some flinty mineral
>character. I think the wine was a bit better when younger, but not
>much. It has held up better than many fancy California Chardonnays of
>like age.

Interesting, very interesting. I, like you, found a "lost" bottle of FC in the
cellar. It happened to be a '93 Reserve Chard. I, like you, brought it up, but
with a backup in hand. It was absolutely fabulous! My wife, who likes her
Chards typically young and big, fell in love with this wine. We finished the
bottle, watching the sunset. I went from having pity on this poor orphan, to
wishing that I had not been so hasty in consuming its 11 sisters so young.

Within a few months, I visited FC and, after their regular tasting, went
downstairs to the reserve tasting. I asked about "library" wines, with the '93
R Chard in mind. Seems they held an employee-only "clean out the library"
sale, just a few months back. My hostess mentioned that she'd bought 2 cases
of the '94 R Chard for US$4/btl. but thought that it was long dead. I related
my story, and her eyes lit up. I mentioned that I'd be glad to take one case
off of her hands for a decent price, >US$4/blt. but unspecified. She passed on
my offer, saying that she couldn't wait to try her "treasure trove" of aged
Chard. Bummer! I should have made the offer, BEFORE I told her the story. When
will I ever learn?

Anyway, with good storage, there are some domestic (US) whites that do age
well. I am surprised at the Fume Blanc, but have a couple of orphan bottles of
Grgich Hills FB that should have been consumed long ago. Maybe they'll get
opened tonight. Who knows, they might be little gems?

Thanks,
Hunt