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Wine Details
Price:
$26.00 per bottle
Description:
Which Chardonnay do I prefer, Napa or Carneros? When I’m asked that question I often think of the late writer Harry Waugh, who, when asked whether he preferred Bordeaux or Burgundy, replied that he intended to devote the rest of his life to finding out. Our Napa Valley Chardonnay is a fine counterpoint to the Carneros bottling; it has more mineral and earth, compared to the fruit and body of the Carneros. The Napa Valley bottling seems more at home with delicate seafood dishes, like the grilled Dover sole I recently enjoyed at one of my favorite New York City restaurants, while you might pair the Carneros with richer, more rustic food. The winemaking process is identical for both: whole-cluster pressing, natural wild-yeast fermentation in French oak barrels, 100% malo-lactic fermentation, and minimum intervention until bottling after a year of barrel age.
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Varietal Definition
Chardonnay:
Chardonnay is by far the most widely planted grape crop in California and dominates California’s cooler, coastal, quality wine regions. The natural varietal ‘taste and smell’ of Chardonnay is surprisingly unfamiliar to many wine drinkers, as its true character is often guised with dominating winemaking signatures. Chardonnay’s rather subdued primary fruit characteristics lean toward the crisp fruitiness of apples, pears and lemon, but the variety’s full body is capable of supporting a host of complementary characteristics, such as oak, butter and vanilla. Regardless of what is the appropriate style for Chardonnay, the varietal continues to dominate vineyard plantings in every corner of the world. Close attention to clonal selection has made this broad geographic and climactic range of Chardonnay viable in thoughtful viticultural hands.
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