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Wine Details
Price:
Description:
The cool, unsettled spring of 2003 made for late budbreak and bloom, and a lot of shatter in our old chardonnay vineyards. Consequently, the vines produced an extremely small crop of concentrated and enthralling fruit. The warm harvest brought it all into focus, and produced chardonnays of extraordinary brightness, round, silky citrus/apple fruit and immaculate acid focus; in short, perfect archetypes for Green Valley chardonnay. In the end, the 2003 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay may be our winemaker's favorite to date-it hits that juicy balance between the luxuriant tangerine and tropical core, the freshening riff of minerality, the bracing hit of acid, and the gentle pillow of oak spice overtones. This is a wine to pair with your most indulgent foods-from pâtés and fresh mozzarella to escargots, salmon with a caper aioli and fettuccini Alfredo.
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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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