Winemaker Notes
Mid straw, apples and pears, rock melon, smoky oak, cashew, complex
Tarte aux pommes with hints of almond, biscuit, on a tight, textured palate.
Pate de fois gras, bonnet de douche
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 First Drop Mere - et - Fils Chardonnay is energetic and satisfying on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of rustic earth and spices. Pair it with lightly-spiced roasted game birds. (Tasted: April 3, 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.
A narrow band of hills and valleys east of the city of Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills region is a diverse landscape featuring a variety of microclimates. In general it is moderate with high-altitude areas cooler and wetter compared to its warmer, lower areas.
Piccadilly Valley, the part of Adelaide Hills closest to the city, was first staked out by a grower named Brian Croser, in the 1970s for a cool spot to grow Chardonnay, then uncommon in Australia. Today a good amount of the Chardonnay goes to winemakers outside of the region.
Producers here experiment with other cool-climate loving aromatic varieties like Pinot Gris, Viognier and Riesling. Charming sparkling wine is also possible. On its north side, lower, west-facing slopes make full-bodied Shiraz.