Winemaker Notes
The Prisoner Wine Company was born different. Designed to disrupt. The Prisoner Chardonnay is rich and full bodied with aromas of vanilla, baked apple, and flavors of pineapple, to asted oak.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Prisoner Carneros Chardonnay incorporates New World Ideas in offering this aromatic and pleasing wine. By adding Roussanne and Gewürztraminer to this blend, they have added a cool nuance to it. TASTING NOTES: This wine gushes out aromas and flavors of ripe fruit and chalk, along with an intriguing aromatic note. Enjoy it with roast duck with thin slices of orange. (Tasted: October 17, 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.