Franciscan Estate Chardonnay 2009

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    Spectator
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Franciscan Estate Chardonnay 2009 Front Label
Franciscan Estate Chardonnay 2009 Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2009

Size
750ML

ABV
13.5%

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

I believe that Chardonnay should be rich and round, but also vibrant and crisp, to pair well with food. We source from a combination of cool Carneros and southern Napa Valley vineyards, to bring together bright pear, citrus, and mineral qualities along with rich apple and honey. Our Chardonnay sees traditional Burgundian techniques. Gentle whole-cluster pressing and barrel fermentation are followed by sur lie aging and barrel stirring to bring body and opulence. Malolactic fermentation helps to deliver that delicious, creamy complexity our Chardonnay is known for.

The 2009 Napa Valley Chardonnay is pale yellow in color with aromas of vibrant Fuji apple, ripe pear, and white nectarine fruit layered with rich notes of cream, toasted hazelnut, and vanilla On the palate, it is bright, with pear-apple notes, citrus, and honey. Silky and round mouthfeel, with rich crème brûlée highlights and a finish of mineral and cream that lingers.

Professional Ratings

  • 87
    This is clean and well-made if simple, with clean, delicate and modest flavors of pear, melon and citrus. Drink now through 2014. 58,987 cases made.

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Franciscan Estate

Franciscan Estate

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Franciscan Estate, California
Franciscan Estate Winery Video
Franciscan is one of Napa Valley's most venerable wineries, reaching back more than three decades. Franciscan wines take their signature style - rich, vibrant flavors framed by supple tannins - from the ideal climate offered by Napa Valley's cool, southern half and from the time-honored tradition of small-lot winemaking, blending from hundreds of barrels to craft fine wines that fully express the classic Bordeaux varieties.

Franciscan was founded in 1972 by a group of lawyers and doctors from San Francisco who decided to try turning their passion for wine into a business. In 1985, Agustin Huneeus, a Chilean exile who had built Concha y Toro in his native country, took over the helm at Franciscan. Huneeus refocused the winery on using the superlative grapes growing in its own vineyards, rather than sourcing from outside.

Today, Franciscan's wines are crafted under the exacting eye of Janet Myers, who came to Franciscan in August 2003 as associate winemaker after working in the Margaret River region and Beaulieu Vineyard, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and Louis Martini. The winery remains committed to its tradition of small-lot winemaking, with small batches averaging just 150 to 1,500 cases. The image of a hand-operated wine press on Franciscan's logo and wine labels reflects this small lot approach to winemaking.

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One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.

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One of the world's most highly regarded regions for wine production as well as tourism, the Napa Valley was responsible for bringing worldwide recognition to California winemaking. In the 1960s, a few key wine families settled the area and hedged their bets on the valley's world-class winemaking potential—and they were right.

The Napa wine industry really took off in the 1980s, when producers scooped up vineyard lands and planted vines throughout the county. A number of wineries emerged, and today Napa is home to hundreds of producers ranging from boutique to corporate. Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely the grape of choice here, with many winemakers also focusing on Bordeaux blends. White wines from Napa Valley are usually Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that claim specific wine characteristics based on situation, slope and soil. Farthest south and coolest from the influence of the San Pablo Bay is Carneros, followed by Coombsville to its northeast and then Yountville, Oakville and Rutherford. Above those are the warm St. Helena and the valley's newest and hottest AVA, Calistoga. These areas follow the valley floor and are known generally for creating rich, dense, complex and smooth red wines with good aging potential. The mountain sub appellations, nestled on the slopes overlooking the valley AVAs, include Stags Leap District, Atlas Peak, Chiles Valley (farther east), Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain District and Diamond Mountain District. Napa Valley wines from the mountain regions are often more structured and firm, benefiting from a lot of time in the bottle to evolve and soften.

SWS82434_2009 Item# 110827

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