*** Chez Ray Chardonnay/Chenin Blanc Dry, Botrytised, Yakima Valley WA , 2005

This is a dry white Chez Ray Chardonnay/Chenin Blanc from botrytised grapes from Yakima Valley WA, provided by Brehm Vineyards.  The grapes were grown in 2005, frozen and vinted in 2007. (Code is B57 / 22).

For the dry white, this was vinted from juice that ended up at 22 degrees brix, following the frozen extraction of higher-sugar juice from the botrytised grapes described here.  In effect, this is the residual, less-sweet juice from that extraction process.  At 22 brix, it will ferment to dryness at about 12% alcohol.

Let's see what we've got:

In the glass, this is deep golden yellow, with slight effervescence visible.

Poured cool with no decant, the nose sports a deep, tangy botrytised element, hard to describe unless you've sniffed botrytised juice before (I highly encourage it!).  It is wrapped in a dry pineapple and basement dust cover.

On the palate, a rich, thick - but dry - citrus plus botrytis core comes through first.  A bit of acid curls this into your upper palate and washes into your cheeks.

Wants to be sipped cooler than cellar temps - almost cold.  I'd return to this, so will allow three stars on the five-star Spirit of Wine scale.