Quilt Chardonnay 2018
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James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
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Winemaker Notes
Pale straw yellow with golden hues. Juicy white peach, honeysuckle, pear, white plum, and nectarine with notes of citrus and star anise. Refreshing stone fruit, kiwi, apricot, nectarine, and meyer lemon zest followed by hints of lightly toasted oak. Bright, medium bodied, and rich with smooth and generous layers. Complex, mouthwatering acidity with a lively finish.
Pair with oven baked chicken with white pepper and lemon, crab salad, or orzo salad with light lemon vinaigrette, goat cheese, and yellow peppers.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of sliced apple, apricot and lemon curd. It’s full-bodied and creamy with some toasted hazelnut, too. Smooth with balanced acidity. Drink now. Screw cap.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lots of toasted spice, caramelized stone fruits, lemon curd, and a kiss of minerality emerge from the 2018 Chardonnay. It's nicely balanced, medium-bodied, and a good value that should keep for 3-4 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay from Quilt Wines delivers fresh apricots, honeydew melon and green guava scents, followed by hints of nutmeg, lemon curd and lime blossoms. The medium to full-bodied palate fills the mouth with citrus and stone fruit flavors, backed by refreshing acidity and a satiny texture, finishing with a spicy kick.
Other Vintages
2022-
Tasting
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Wine
Enthusiast
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Robert
Parker
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Tasting
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The Somm
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James
Suckling
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Wine
Spectator
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.
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.