Emblem by Michael Mondavi Chardonnay 2016
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a barrel-fermented white that fully embraces its richness in the form of a baked pear, caramel and crème brûlée. It’s full bodied and ample in fruit, with an underlying crispness that brightens the finish.
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2015-
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The Oso Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is harvested from our family's Oso Vineyard. Planted on slopes rising up from Schwartz Creek, it is nestled between Sugarloaf and Howell Mountains in Napa Valley, where the historic Oat Hill Mine Road begins its ascent over the mountain toward Calistoga. There, the vines grow on beautiful, stone-lined terraces, out of a rocky, porous soil. The high drainage stresses the vines, leading to high flavor concentration. The fruit remains fresh and vibrant throughout the growing season due to mild temperatures –warmer evenings and cooler days than on the valley floor –and afternoon breezes that blow straight down the vineyard rows. From the soil and elevation this mountain fruit extracts intense varietal characteristics, a firm structure, and excellent aging potential.
The Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon is harvested from a single Rutherford vineyard east of the Napa River extending to Conn Creek, in the alluvial fan of the VacaRange, a place where our family has 25 years of winegrowing experience. The valley floor’s warm climate and deep, well-drained soils produce vigorous vines that receive more sun exposure than in other parts of the Napa Valley. To moderate and distribute the sun’s heat, the vines are planted in east-west facing rows, and a single-sided ballerina trellising system shades the fruit from intense morning sun. Rutherford historically produces classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon fruit of excellent quality.
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.
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.