Winemaker Notes
Artesas Los Carneros Chardonnay displays great fruit freshness, intensity, and elegance. This wines focus is primarily on aromatics, and our winemaking techniques are intended to retain the characteristic Carneros aromatic notes of lemon-citrus and white blossom, while enhancing the minerality and bright, vibrant fruit flavors of citrus and stone fruit in the wine. Partial barrel and malolactic fermentation, combined with lees stirring, produces a Chardonnay with added layers of complexity, focused and with bright acidity, imparting hints of Meyer lemon, nectarine, and lemongrass.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A surprisingly light body envelops luscious, ripe golden apple and Bosc pear flavors in this broad, generous and buttery wine. It brings a suave spiciness to the palate, with toasty, nutty accents that linger on the finish. Impress your Chardonnay- loving friends before a meal or pair with rich sauces on seafood and poultry.
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Decanter
For this Chardonnay, most of the fruit was aged in stainless steel, while one-third was fermented and aged in neutral French oak barrels for nine months. This rich, hedonistic Chardonnay boasts toasty oak, ripe pineapple, candied ginger, and buttery brioche notes. Yet, it also exudes swagger and panache with a fine backbone of acidity and minerality. Fragrant Indian spices add an exotic touch, lingering on a long, zippy finish that balances opulence with vibrancy.
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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.