Hey Chess. Good to see you still around.

14 years or so in the bottle is a long time for a Cakebread Chard. They do not build their chards for aging, but for immediate gratification. Pretty common for most (if not all) Napa chardonnay. If you move up the mountains, and visit Mayacamas, for example, you'll find a winery that utilizes old world/old school winemaking techniques, and builds their wines for aging. They recommend cellaring their chards for two to three decades. I buy Peter Michael wines (Knight's Valley), and have a vertical going that starts out at 07, (when I started buying their wines). This includes their chardonnay's, Pinot Noir, and Cab Savs. Their Chard's still taste fantastic with 10 years of age. A lot of the Russian River Valley chardonnay's will cellar for over ten years as well. Willamette Valley (Oregan) chard's and Pinot's will also cellar for a good bit longer than Napa.