Winemaker Notes
Ideal with cream sauces, seafood, and poultry dishes.
Professional Ratings
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Mon Frère Winery Vintner's Selection California Chardonnay does an excellent job of combining its elements. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers pleasing aromas and flavors of earth, ripe fruit, and wood. Share it at a family barbecue and serve it with fried chicken. (Tasted: February 15, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
Leading U.S. wine & spirits importer Palm Bay International is pleased to present an exciting new range of California wines called Mon Frère. French for ‘my brother’, Mon Frère is a celebration of our connections to each other, to those special people with whom we choose to share life’s triumphs and tribulations. The range includes three expressions: a fresh Chardonnay with moderate, well-integrated oak, a Pinot Noir that delivers ripe, rich fruit flavors, and a Cabernet Sauvignon that expresses concentrated, ripe fruit and firm structure while remaining smooth and approachable.
Developed and vinified by an exceptional team led by Tom Hinde, chief winemaker for the celebrated Au Contraire Wines, Mon Frère Winery champions the very best in quality California sourcing and winemaking. The Mon Frère packaging playfully celebrates friendship in its many shapes and sizes through hand-drawn custom illustrations and lighthearted copy.
Celebrating 42 years in 2019, Palm Bay International is a progressive, family-owned wine & spirits organization that is a proven industry leader. Palm Bay has its roots in Italian wine and now offers one of the most comprehensive portfolios in the U.S., comprising prestigious estates, distilleries and popular brands from 17 countries. In recent years, under the leadership of third generation family member and CEO Marc D. Taub, Palm Bay has been developing a growing cache of domestic wines.
California’s most praised white wine, Chardonnay is also the state’s most planted white grape variety. Diverse terrain and microclimates allow for an incredible range of wine styles.
Chardonnay planted in the cooler, coastal zones takes on bright characteristics like lemon zest, key lime, green apple and wet flint. For this style, look to the chilly Sonoma Coast, Carneros, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Lucia Highlands and Edna Valley.
The inland zones of California’s coast, such as the Russian River, Sonoma, Napa and Livermore Valleys maintain a more Goldilocks-esque climate where both styles go. Early picking retains acidity and creates a leaner style but leaving the grapes to hang creates an approachable Chardonnay, balancing richness and finesse.
Chardonnay also plays a major part in the sparkling wine production of the Anderson Valley and Carneros.