The 2008 Chardonnay is aging wonderfully into a warm grapefruit, ginger and honeycomb character with nuances of butterscotch. Medium-bodied, it sports loads of flavor accentuated by racy acid through the long and toasty, spicy finish.

The 2008 Chardonnay was fermented in oak with 100% indigenous yeast and a small portion of new oak. No malo-lactic occurred. It presents a seriously intense, tropical fruit nose, with notes of green guava, under-ripe pineapple, cedar, orange blossom, oatmeal and apricot kernel and a touch of sulfides. Full bodied, rich and concentrated, there’s a great backbone of very crisp acid running the length of the palate, finishing long and chalky. Delicious now, it has the capacity to develop and cellar to 2016. “When we started, we really didn’t know where we were going to go,” James Healy, winemaker and co-founder, confessed as I perched on a stool in the winery’s tasting room. “Ivan (Sutherland, viticulturalist and co-founder) and I are such different people. But we see eye to eye a lot of the time. We never wanted to do the big thing. We wanted to do it for ourselves and develop.” Only 6 years after the first anticipated releases from these ex Cloudy Bay, etc. stalwarts, it’s now hard to imagine Marlborough’s complex jigsaw puzzle of players complete without this dynamic duo that is Dog Point. Emphasis on the vineyards, proponents of cork for all but their Sauvignon and use of indigenous yeast aren’t the only things that define their edges – the wines are simply superb.Importer: Ex Cellars Wine Agencies Inc., Solvang, CA; tel. (805) 686-9153