Merryvale Silhouette Chardonnay 2014
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Their flagship wine, the 2014 Chardonnay Silhouette has a greenish hue to its light gold color and offers up orange peel, tangerine, citrus, apple blossom, crushed rocks and a touch of spicy oak. It is full-bodied, backward, but beautifully delineated and vibrant. It could pass for a grand cru from Burgundy’s Côte d’Or in a blind tasting. Drink it over the next decade.
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Wine Spectator
Beautifully crafted, rich and graceful, showing a purity of fruit and finesse. Focused on juicy white peach, nectarine and anise notes, with light oak and a creamy texture that lets the flavors glide along smoothly. Drink now through 2021.
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Wine Enthusiast
Sourced from the producer's Stanly Ranch Estate Vineyard and Hyde Vineyard, both in Carneros, this is a stunning effort. Its baked pear fruit provides hefty body and texture, while honeysuckle and apple blossom notes and a squeeze of lemon-like acidity keep it balanced and fresh.
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Merryvale is committed to protecting and preserving the environment through conservation, renewable energy and sustainable farming practices at our three estate vineyards. Merryvale has received Napa Green Vineyard, Napa Green Winery and Bay Area Green Business certifications.
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.
One of the world's most highly regarded regions for wine production as well as tourism, the Napa Valley was responsible for bringing worldwide recognition to California winemaking. In the 1960s, a few key wine families settled the area and hedged their bets on the valley's world-class winemaking potential—and they were right.
The Napa wine industry really took off in the 1980s, when producers scooped up vineyard lands and planted vines throughout the county. A number of wineries emerged, and today Napa is home to hundreds of producers ranging from boutique to corporate. Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely the grape of choice here, with many winemakers also focusing on Bordeaux blends. White wines from Napa Valley are usually Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that claim specific wine characteristics based on situation, slope and soil. Farthest south and coolest from the influence of the San Pablo Bay is Carneros, followed by Coombsville to its northeast and then Yountville, Oakville and Rutherford. Above those are the warm St. Helena and the valley's newest and hottest AVA, Calistoga. These areas follow the valley floor and are known generally for creating rich, dense, complex and smooth red wines with good aging potential. The mountain sub appellations, nestled on the slopes overlooking the valley AVAs, include Stags Leap District, Atlas Peak, Chiles Valley (farther east), Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain District and Diamond Mountain District. Napa Valley wines from the mountain regions are often more structured and firm, benefiting from a lot of time in the bottle to evolve and soften.