I tasted the current 2018 Chardonnay Fermentado en Barrica, a very toasty and smoky example with notes of nuts and charred wood. The fruit was ripe and the wine reached 14.5% alcohol, possibly what made it feel sweet in the finish. It feels very oaky and commercial in the style of the turn of the century. It matured in new French oak barrels for seven months. 40,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2019.

The 2015 Chardonnay Fermentado en Barrica is a barrel-fermented Chardonnay that shows a golden color and notes of bottle age, some caramel and a palate that feels polished and soft, with the oak still present while the fruit is fading. It's reaching the end of its life. Drink up. 45,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2016.

The 2011 Chardonnay Fermentado en Barrica is a classical barrel-fermented Chardonnay which aged for six months in the new French oak barriques with battonage. The nose is textbook, smoke, butter, roasted sesame and sunflower seeds with some waxy apples and pineapple. The palate is medium-bodied, with a round texture, good acidity and wood tannins toward the end. 29,000 bottles produced.

Rich and creamy, but lacks zest and drive. The nose and palate offer sweet banana and oak, while the feel is almost too pillowy. Tastes more like a dessert than a dry white should. Still, it’s neither bad nor poorly made.——M.S.(6/1/2005)—— 85