The 1993 Au Bon Climat, Estate Bottled, Santa Barbara County, Le Bouge D'a cote, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Chardonnay was bought shortly after release, stored properly, and there were no issues with fill or cork. I have reported on this wine before, and it has always been near the top. It is still holding very well and likely will do so until it is
20 or more years old. The regular ABC Chardonnays can be decent and in fact a better selection if you are going to drink them too young. The several reserves often require 10 years or more to peak. They are some of the most reliable Chardonnays from California. Although some other Chardonnays can equal or even top them in a few years, they seldom do so on a regular basis. This wine has much the same structure of a top Puligny-Montrachet, but a bit of grapefruit character and other slight differences say it is not from Puligny-Montrachet. If consumed too young, it perhaps has some of the character of a Corton Charlemagne, more grapefruit character, and rather sharp acid.The 1975 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese 1975, J.J. Prum, AP Nr.
2576511-2376 was bought shortly after release, was properly stored, and had no cork issues. It is still holding quite well and likely will do so for at least a few more years. The color is light yellow. It has the expected fruity bouquet and taste, and there is enough acidity to balance the sweetness. This does not have the nearly over-the-top tropical fruit and honey character that many wines from the very ripe 1976 vintage have. The aged Riesling petrol character is quite apparent, but very clean. I also have J.J. Prum's 1975 Wehlener Sonnenuhr, which is a somewhat more famous wine. Although I have not tasted these side by side, I would say the Graacher Himmelreich suffers only very little on comparison. It perhaps is not quite as complex and perhaps has more petrol character at this age. Of course if you do not compare the same years all bets are off. It also would not be fair to compare a Prum long gold capsule Wehlener Sonnenuhr with this Graacher Himmelreich.