Winemaker Notes
Produced to capture the essence of Carneros, the 2021 Nueva Chardonnay enjoys an extensive winemaking effort starting with early harvesting to retain natural acidity throughout the process. Barrel fermentation and sur lie aging creates a lusher profile with only hints of oak that contribute touches of toasty, honey-like notes. Malo-lactic fermentation was induced to achieve a round, creamy mid palate but the wine’s focus is on the indigenous fruit characteristics for which Carneros is known.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
The fruit for this wine came from five vineyards farmed by the wellrespected Sangiacomo family. Toasty scents of crème brûlée and orange rind lead to a buttery mouthfeel with charred oak and cashew. As minerality comes through along with a good balance of acidity, the big and chewy palate finishes with a leaner profile. Bravo.
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Wine Enthusiast
Toasted almonds, brown butter and poached-pear flavors give this full-bodied wine plenty of flavor impact. It’s broad and mouthfilling in texture and goes for plenty of ripeness, oak and spices.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2021 Carneros Highway Neuva Chardonnay is nicely built on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of tart apples and oaky notes. Serve it with grilled halibut. (Tasted: August 22, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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.