Winemaker Notes
Les Cretes Chardonnay is a brilliant, straw yellow hue. Ripe melon and papaya with almond milk on the nose. Lush, ripe fruit on the palate surrounded by a core of bracing acidity. Rich mineral finish with tropical fruit overtones.
Drink as an aperitif or with appetizers, first courses (soups, pasta), cheese and herb based omelets, fish, white and roasted meat along with medium seasoned cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2021 Les Cretes Chardonnay is well-built and lasting on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of savory spices, earthy notes, and ripe apples. Enjoy it with lightly-coated, pan-fried Dover sole. (Tasted: December 26, 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.
Claiming an impressive list of autochthonous varieties, Valle d'Aosta is a long, narrow valley, formed by Italy’s extreme northwestern Alps. The region, a natural gateway between Italy and France, is also home to many grape migrants from France and its more southerly Italian neighbors. Not surprisingly, wine labels are often written in Italian and French.
The main whites here include: Petite Arvine and Prié blanc (Blanc de Morgex). For reds: Fumin, Cornalin, Mayolet, Petit Rouge, Premetta, Vuillermin, Neblou, and Vien de Nus are unique to the region. French ones that do well are Gamay noir, Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Pinot gris (confusingly called Malvoisie in Aosta but it is not related to Malvasia). Italian grapes common here include Moscato, Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo, and from farther away, Ciliegiolo.