At 13% alcohol, the 1981 Stone Creek Chardonnay from Sonoma was served with a simple cod fish dinner with white rice , roasted fennel (adding both flavor and color), and a salad that my wife made on Sunday. It was the last bottle from  a case I bought back in 1984, It was at the bottom of a newer case of mixed bottles.

There is a “Stony Creek Winery” in Millersburg, Indiana, but this bottle came from the town of Kenwood, in Sonoma, California. I’m told the winery is now closed, and I can not find any updates of its present existence.

The wine was a dark golden amber, not completely brown like many old white wines. At 34 years old, the color was better than expected. The nose had some hints of fresh-baked bread and honey. It was dry, creamy, and had an unusually long finish; it was a wine, not to marry with the cod, but to contrast with the fish’s flavors. Truly unique and worth the wait.

All the older Dionysian members would have agreed with my 17 score on the 20-point scale. I found one old note I had from 28 years ago that said it was a “nice, simple wine; easy drinking.” Both the Chardonnay and I have matured a bit.  Maybe snow-chilling it helped the wine show how helpful nature was in 1983 before it was born from the Sonoma grapes. In vino veritas.

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