White wine of 2009?

I've mentioned this wine in a few previous posts, but my likely white of the year is the Souverain 2007 Chardonnay Alexander Valley. This $17 retail wine had this 90 point review from WS:

Complex aromas of citrus, pear, apple and honeysuckle, with touches of toasty oak. Full-bodied, rich and elegant, with a long, lingering finish. Drink now through 2011. 35,000 cases made.

I found it to have lots of sweet fruit with pear and apple with some spice and oak in a long lean finish. Wow, 92-93 points. As I mentioned, I inhaled the 2 bottles I got from the San Luis Obispo Costco for $10 a few months ago. I've been looking for it with little luck. I found it for $15 at the Wine Club and even more at Beltramos, but it wasn't at any local Costco or Trader Joes.

With bated breath I revisited the SLO Costco and thank goodness they still had it in stock (as well as the Jim Barry 2005 Shiraz Lodge Hill, another top 10 deal of the year). I had a few bottles with family and friends down in the SLO region, but it wasn't until I got back home that I was able to drink it in the quiet of home and put it through its paces.

Verdict: still amazingly good, with more toasty oak than I remember. I bought 20 more bottles and I'll likely buy more this coming weekend when I'm down there again at $10 a pop. A whole new style of Chardonnay to love. The first Chard to rival the landmark 2002/4/6 Columbia Crests. A few months back, I had gone to a higher end Chardonnay tasting of well regarded $30-60 wines and I'd take the Souverain over all of those (Landmark, Ridge, Neyers, Far Niente, the WS 93 Rodney Strong, and more) irrespective of price.

My vow to spend $13 on average per bottle is holding up pretty well and without compromise.