Winemaker Notes
Aroma: Clove, allspice, vanilla, lime and acacia blossom
Taste: Melon, apricot, peach and a touch of tropical fruit.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A beautiful Chardonnay with so much class and elegance, it’s a bargain at this price. Shows lush flavors of pineapple crème brûlée, Meyer lemon custard and vanilla sorbet, balanced with crisp acidity and a fine touch of smoky oak. Perfect with shellfish.
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Wine & Spirits
Slice a late summer Bosc pear over puff pastry and bake it-the tart will taste a lot like the flavors of this chardonnay. It's grown at Cuvaison's estate vineyard, on 30-year-old vines. Though tightly built, the wine broadens into the finish, refreshed by a bristle of acidity. Decant it for roast veal with chanterelles.
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.