The Chalone Vineyard Pinot Blanc Estate, 1992 was stored properly by me since release. It had a high fill and no cork issues. The color is very light lemon. Chalone often has made remarkable Pinot Blanc that will take age, and this is no exception. It still is very fresh with not a hint of oxidation. It has a cool feel even though at 13% alcohol by volume, it is no light weight. There is more mineral character and less tutti-frutti character than most California Chardonnays have. This makes it a better food wine than Chardonnay for many dishes. The bouquet is subtle, but complex, and reminds one somewhat of beeswax and a complex mixture of sweet herbs with a trace of something floral and very aromatic. There is plenty of clean and smooth acidity. I rank it higher than many California Chardonnays costing more.
I have been collecting eau de vie for about a year. Once you get past Kirsch, Framboise, and Poire (with or without a pear grown in the bottle), it becomes very difficult to find many other examples in the US. I have not located several in the US and finally have located several of the French examples in the UK and Spain. A peach eau de vie is listed by a few French distillers, but the only available source I found was in Germany, and you would have to pay by a money transfer to their bank. Recently a little very high quality Rowanberry, apricot, and pear from Hans Reisetbauer of Austria has become available in a very few locations in the US. It is quite expensive.
There are now a few small distilleries in the US that make true eau de vie. Westford Hill in the East makes very good Kirsch, Framboise, and Fraise, but it is rather expensive and seldom is seen outside of the state in which it is made. A few on the US West coast make eau de vie from time to time. For instance Clear Creek makes Mirabelle plum eau de vie. Recently Missouri has changed laws so that it is now fairly easy for a winery there to distill brandy. There is a very old wine district on the Missouri river near St. Louis. Montelle Winery is in this region and has started making 4 eau de vies. I know nothing about their wines which are mainly hybrids and fruit wines, likely because of the climate. However they make a peach eau de vie as well as ones from golden delicious apple, sour cherry, and a Grappa. I was able to locate 1/2 bottles of each. They do have a web site.
The Montelle peach eau de vie is the usual high strength. It is perfectly clean and completely dry as a true eau de vie should be. It takes about 8 pounds of peaches to make a small half bottle of 350 ml. As for most eau de vie, this should be served near freezing in pre- chilled small glasses and taken in small sips. Otherwise the vodka- strength alcohol is overbearing. The bouquet is clean with some peach skin smell as well as perhaps a hint of the pit. The taste is clean with no burned taste that can result if spots of the still become overheated. I don't know what kind of still they use, but many in Europe use a special German still with a water jacket to prevent overheating and burned tastes. I consider this Peach eau de vie to be of high quality, but I would have to compare it with others to say how high.