Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Lloyd Chardonnay offers layers of tropical fruits, pear, and apple are supported by rich notes of vanillin leading into a powerful and succulent finish.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
This expression was made primarily with grapes sourced from three separate blocks in the certified-sustainable Sangiacomo Vineyard; a small percentage comes from Truchard Vineyard. These prestigious sites clearly influence the intensity and purity of fruit in the barrel-fermented wine, which aged for ten months in American oak and was left on the lees until bottling. Carneros Chardonnay is associated with crisp acidity and fresh stone-fruit flavors, and this is no exception; it also offers aromas of pineapple, lemon, and white flowers that lead to notes of buttered pecan, vanilla, peach, and daffodil.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Lloyd by Robert Lloyd Chardonnay offers a delicious mix of nuances. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of ripe peach skin and creamy oak. Enjoy it with pan-fried chicken over rice pilaf. (Tasted: March 21, 2020, 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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.