Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with most fish, lobster, crab, chicken, and even many pork preparations. Particularly recommended with dishes using sautéed wild mushrooms or butter sauces. This wine will age well for years in a cellar.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 G Lot Chardonnay was sourced from the Adrianna vineyard, which was planted in Gualtallary in 1992 at almost 1,500 meters in altitude. This fermented in 500-liter oak barrels, where it aged for 12 months. It has a combination of freshness and structure, still a little marked by the smoky and toasty notes from the barrels, coming through as a mix of restraint and exuberance, with the creamy oak and the chalky minerality of the limestone soils. It has good acidity and grip. It should develop nicely in bottle. Rating: 92+
Laura Catena is a fourth generation winemaker who grew up in a traditional Argentine-Italian winemaking family in Mendoza. Laura splits her time between Mendoza and San Francisco, California, where she is an emergency physician, university professor and occasional tango dancer. Laura had the vision of creating a new breed of Argentine wines: small quantities, artisan quality, and true to their individual terroirs. A pioneer of small-grower relations in Mendoza, Laura's incredible, limited production wines come from some of Argentina's best fruit from low-yield, high-elevation, family-owned vineyards. The wines are named after her children - Luca, Dante and Nicola - and symbolize her love for her family. The background of the label is the McDermott coat of arms of her American husband, Daniel McDermott.
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.
With a winning combination of cool weather, high elevation and well-draining alluvial soils, it is no surprise that Mendoza’s Uco Valley is one of the most exciting up-and-coming wine regions in Argentina. Healthy, easy-to-manage vines produce low yields of high-quality fruit, which in turn create flavorful, full-bodied wines with generous acidity.
This is the source of some of the best Malbec in Mendoza, which can range from value-priced to ultra-premium. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay also perform well here.