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Mission Codename: The Orchid

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Send Agent Red back to Raymond Burr winery, to retrieve their just-in-time-for-summer, gold medal-winning, 2007 Chardonnay – before it goes on lock-down!

Mission Status: Accomplished

Current Winery: Raymond Burr Vineyards

Wine Subject: 2007 Chardonnay

Winemaker: Phyllis Zouzounis

Backgrounder: Named after the late actor, Raymond Burr Vineyards may be best known for its exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon, but their Chardonnay is truly their hidden Summertime gem. The Dry Creek Valley, in Northern Sonoma County, receives more rain and enjoys a longer growing season than neighboring regions. These conditions make for perfect Chardonnay grape growing.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Sparkling and perfectly clear, the wine shows off a vibrant straw-yellow hue, with glinting highlights at the edges of the wine. Swirl the wine as you hold it to the light to see these bright details. When the wine settles, skinny legs run slowly down the glass.

Smell – Ultra-clean and vibrant, with fresh citrus, fresh cut lemon grass, dried acacia, green fig and white peach. As the wine warms, additional aromas of hawthorn, flint and subtle apricot pit emerge.

Feel – Initially tangy and bright on the attack, the wine presents bold flavors and a hint of spice that fill the mouth with a round, then softly drying fullness that gives the wine a very full-bodied feel in the mouth.

Taste – Bold flavors or fresh, sweet citrus, leading with yellow grapefruit, pink grapefruit, pineapple and zest. These are followed by flavors of flint, white spice, orange flower honey, toasty vanilla, soft oak and tart green apple.

Finish – A very long finish with integrated flavors of its fruit, oak and vanilla. Citrus flavors, in particular, take a long time to tail off. As these fade, the soft spice and minerals leave a warm but refreshed feeling in the mouth.

Conclusion – We are big fans of Raymond Burr Vineyards red wines, so we had high expectations from today’s Chardonnay. They were met – and then some. This wine is rafted in a bolder style than many California Chardonnay and, in m opinion, this is a very good thing, as I find many a Cali Card to be flabby and boring. Drink well chilled for best results, but experiment with drinking the wine at different temperatures to experience the full range of flavors that the wine presents. Pair this wine with nearly anything, especially stronger cheeses and fruit, or grilled chicken with lemon and herb rub. If you are looking for a character-driven Summertime wine, this bold Chardonnay gets our sincere recommendation. Decant and allow to warm, just a little, for best results.

Mission Report:

Now that we are great friends with the folks at Raymond Burr Vineyards, additional surveillance or infiltration is not necessary. Now that they have been recruited into The Wine Spies Network, we can just return to them to ask for wine.

No new mission report today, so please read below for a recap of our inaugural mission to Raymond Burr Vineyards.

Prior Mission Recap:

Ask anyone to describe Raymond Burr in a single word and, resoundingly, you will likely hear, Classy.

The veteran actor, for whom today’s winery was honorarily named, was also a cultivator of orchids, a war hero, a philanthropist and more. Most of all, he was cherished and loved by his close friends, who say that his warmth, humor and compassion made him a remarkable man.

When I was given the mission – finally – to seek out a new Cabernet Franc, I riffled through my mental Rolodex and recalled hearing great things about a Cab Franc from Raymond Burr Winery. In fact, it was in the most unusual way that I had come to hear of the wine in the first place.

On returning from a mission to Latin America, our flight got in to Miami too late to make our connecting flight back to California. the airline put us up in a swanky hotel and the next morning we found ourselves in a shuttle back to the Airport. I struck up a conversation with a young couple who were also on our inbound flight and, as always, I steered the conversation toward wine. We compared tastes in varietals and found that Cab Franc wines were among our very favorites. We traded recommendations and they assured me that Raymond Burr had a wine that I would be sure to love.

Now that I was finally assigned a Cab Franc mission I knew just where to go, so I called proprietor and long time companion to Mr. Burr, Robert Benevides. I used the direct approach and told him that I was very interested in sampling his wine and, if they passed the test, feature his Cabernet Franc here for our Operatives to enjoy.

I enjoyed this exceptional wine more with each sip. With enough time to stretch out in the air, the wine really opens up and loses the rough edges present on opening. For best results, decant the wine for a few hours – and enjoy at cellar temperature.

Aromas, flavors, acid and mouth-feel are all in harmony here and the finish is really very unique. If you love great Cabernet Franc, look no further Operative, its right here.

Finally, I remember hearing a story about Mr. Burr that sums up his life and his wines: While working with Errol Flynn, Flynn told Mr. Burr that if he died with ten dollars in his pocket he hadn’t done a good job. This inspired Mr. Burr to always share his wealth with all. His legacy lives on in today’s wine from Mr. Burr’s namesake winery.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Raymond Burr Vineyards can be seen in this satellite photo.