Winemaker Notes
Perfect to pair with roast chicken, creamy pasta or a great cheese plate.
Professional Ratings
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Since the rise of New World Chardonnay (circa the 1970s), I always knew that this grape variety would eventually become the "cocktail" white wine of choice. Before that date above, American consumers drank "Chablis" which sometimes did not contain even a drop of Chardonnay. As the industry became more sophisticated and moved into the '80s and '90s, wineries knew that consumers would want easy-drinking white wines and that Chardonnay would be the perfect grape variety of choice. The 2016 Happy : Hour® is an excellent choice for a sipping white wine. TASTING NOTES: This wine is bright, soft, and easy-to-drink. Its aromas and flavors of ripe apples, a light touch of wood, and sweet spice make it a beautiful aperitif wine. (Tasted: September 28, 2018, 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.
The Moors gave it the name, ‘Manxa,’ which fittingly means ‘parched earth.’ La Mancha, the largest Spanish wine producing region in all of Spain, is one of its hottest and driest. Sturdy and drought-resistant white varieietes like Airen, Viura and Verdejo thrive in this environment.