Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From estate vineyards, the 2009 Prelude Vineyards Chardonnay was barrel fermented in French barriques and aged for 9 months on lees. The nose is ripe and intense, revealing notes of pink guava, melon and pineapple over cedar, preserved ginger and a whiff of mandarin peel. Full bodied, the concentrated layers of tropical flavors are nicely offset by refreshing acidity, and it has a pleasantly creamy texture. It finishes long and toasty.
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.
Home to some of Australia’s most elegant and long-lived red and white wines, Margaret River is situated in the farthest reaches of Western Australia. Relatively warm and dry, the region is cooled by breezes from the Indian Ocean. Margaret River takes some inspiration from Bordeaux, producing top-quality Cabernet Sauvignons and Bordeaux Blends with firm structure, mouthwatering acidity, balanced alcohol and notes of herbs and spice. For white wines, refreshing blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon as well as complex, age-worthy Chardonnays are regional specialties.