Winemaker Notes
Aromas: Meyer Lemon, golden delicious apple, pine needles, Asian pear, lemon blossom, lemon verbena, fresh pear Palate: Meyer lemon, Granny Smith apple, fresh pear, mineral/river rock. No oak influence, with a crisp acidity that carries all the way through.
Vegan
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Les Voisins Chardonnay aged 16 months in 10% new French oak. It opens with youthful notes of toast and light oak spices, slowly revealing almonds, golden apple, dried hay, chamomile and an orange blossom hint. The palate is medium-bodied and rounded and offers lovely balance between toasty oak and ripe fruits, with juicy acidity and a long, textured finish. This will benefit from another year in bottle. 1,000 cases produced.
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.
Surrounded by redwood forests and often blanketed in chilly, ocean fog, the Anderson Valley is one of California’s most picturesque appellations. During the growing season, moist, cool, late afternoon air flows in from the Pacific Ocean along the Navarro River and over the valley's golden, oak-studded hills. High and low temperatures can vary as much as 40 or 50 degrees within a single day, allowing for slow and gentle ripening of grapes, which will in turn create elegantly balanced wines.
The Anderson Valley is best known for Pinot Noir made in a range of styles from delicate and floral to powerful and concentrated. Chardonnay also shines here, and both varieties are often utilized for the production of some of California’s best traditional method sparkling wines. The region also draws inspiration from Alsace and produces excellent Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.