Bodini Chardonnay 2011
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Robert
Parker
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bodini's 2011 Chardonnay saw 70% of the wine aged in stainless steel and 30% aged for 3 months in second use French oak. Aromas of pear, apple, melon, and mineral lead to a savory, spicy, intensely flavored wine with excellent depth and concentration for its humble price. This excellent value will provide plenty of pleasure over the next 2-3 years.
Other Vintages
2009-
Robert
Parker
Bodini is crafted by winemaker Jimena Lopez and showcases fruit grown by a small estate winery in Mendoza, Argentina. Supporting Bodini encourages the tradition of independent, family-run vineyards and helping them express their unique wines. Bodini showcases grapes with the fullest expression of fruit.
A high-elevation desert, Mendoza has long sunny days, cold nights, low humidity, and natural irrigation from glacial snowmelt from the Andes Mountains. Bodini wines are fresh, fruit-forward, and a great introduction to the possibility of Malbec to deliver.?
A portion of all Bodini wine sales are also donated to the Dominio del Plata Scholarship Foundation which was established to help fulfill the dream of a college education to winery worker families throughout Argentina.
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.
With vineyards tretching along the eastern side of the Andes Mountains from Patagonia in the south to Salta in the north, Argentina is one of the world’s largest and most dynamic wine producing countries—and most important in South America.
Since the late 20th century vineyard investments, improved winery technology and a commitment to innovation have all contributed to the country’s burgeoning image as a producer of great wines at all price points. The climate here is diverse but generally continental and agreeable, with hot, dry summers and cold snowy winters—a positive, as snow melt from the Andes Mountains is used heavily to irrigate vineyards. Grapes very rarely have any difficulty achieving full ripeness.
Argentina’s famous Mendoza region, responsible for more than 70% of Argentina’s wine production, is further divided into several sub-regions, with Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley most noteworthy. Red wines dominate here, especially Malbec, the country’s star variety, while Chardonnay is the most successful white.
The province of San Juan is best known for blends of Bonarda and Syrah. Torrontés is a specialty of the La Rioja and Salta regions, the latter of which is also responsible for excellent Malbecs grown at very high elevation.