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Wine Details
Price:
$45.00 per bottle
Description:
This is the first Cuvée Natalie that we used a true best barrel selection throughout the entire cellar. All 36 barrels of Chardonnay were tasted and given individual scores from 1 to 10. With a rough projected case quantity in mind, we selected the top ten barrels for the 2003 Cuvée Natalie. Greenish gold in appearance, this Natalie is comprised of 70% Dijon clones and 30% clone 4. The new French oak gives the nose nice roundness and balance working with instead of against the acid backbone and citrus notes of the wine. The palate is perfectly fleshed out, benefiting from a full year of bottle age. The fruit breaks out into lime, lemon, guava and honeydew melon. Like all Nicholson Ranch Chardonnays, the acidity more than absorbs the oak with the former helping to prolong the finish and the latter helping to round out the entry and the mid-palate of the wine.
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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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