Winemaker Notes
This Chardonnay is the light golden color of orange blossom honey. Tropical aromas of grapefruit and pineapple, with a touch of warm toast, grace the nose. The palate is a creamy ambrosia salad of guava, marshmallow and banana, with the sweet-acid flavor of pineapple on the finish.
Palmer and founder of Luna Vineyards, Mike Moone, share a long-standing friendship and in 2003, they chose to collaborate and develop Arnold Palmer Wines. Arnold Palmer Wines combines high quality super premium wines with a legendary name and global icon. The first offering from Arnold Palmer Wines, a California Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay, released in the spring of 2005. Both are premium wines, composed of grapes sourced from select vineyards in California's most acclaimed winegrowing regions.
Palmer on Luna Vineyards and its founder Mike Moone, "Since I hooked up with Luna, I've had a reason to be more involved with wine," says Palmer. "I've learned something about the process and it's fun to think that you are part of something you enjoy so much. Mike is a good friend and he's going to produce a good product, because that's what he does."
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.
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.