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Wine Details
Price:
$27.00 per bottle
Description:
This bottling is from the Nord family’s Trio Vineyard in the Yountville area, in the southern part of the valley. It’s made identically to our Carneros Chardonnay, but it shows a leaner, earthy side when the two are tasted together. The fermentation in this case is longer and slower. While we think of our Napa bottling as more subtle than the Carneros, much of its charm is hidden in these early stages of the wine’s life, so one must exercise patience and allow the wine to develop. An old friend in the business told me that he likes to use the word ‘nuance’ when describing our wines, while another colleague recently used the term ‘restraint’. Both imply that what is here is not immediately apparent, but is worth the wait. The crisp beauty of a great Chablis stands in sharp contrast to the weighty richness of a classic Puligny, but these are simply different interpretations of the same grape. So it is with these two wines.
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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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