Winemaker Notes
Starmont Chardonnay is crafted to enjoy with food or simply by the glass. The goal is to retain the focus on the unique Chardonnay fruit expression of Carneros—bright citrus and apple, along with modest tropical fruit notes and spice. The 2017 is pale gold in color featuring flavors of lemon-lime and green apple, a midpalate with medium body backed by fresh acidity and subtle notes of dried sage that show on the medium length finish. This is an exceptionally crisp and refreshing Chardonnay from Carneros that will gain complexity for three years from vintage.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This has a really juicy, ripe-fruit feel with peaches and nectarines, as well as mangoes, delivered in fresh, attractive, drink-now mode.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Starmont Winery and Vineyards Chardonnay paints a spot-on picture from the Carneros AVA. TASTING NOTES: This wine is bright, lively, and redolent of fruit. Enjoy its elegance and brightness with a family-style dinner of fried chicken, fresh salad greens, and baked potatoes. (Tasted: July 28, 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.