Winemaker Notes
This Carneros Chardonnay has a shiny golden straw in color. The aromas are rich with tropical fruit notes such as mango, guava and papaya. The wine is elegantly balanced between the acidity and creamy center. Ultimately the palate prevails rich in texture with silky caramel apple flavors, poached pear, creamy French oak and Tahitian Vanilla.
This wine pairs well with grilled fish such as wild caught Halibut served with a mango chutney salsa and Moroccan couscous. It makes a wonderful cocktail wine and pairs well with many fine cheeses including room temperature Stilton, Vermont white cheddar, La Tur, Humbolt Fog and unpasteurized Morbier (if you can find it).
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fruity chardonnay with apricot, poached pear, papaya, lemon pith and vanilla on the nose. Some toasted brioche and oyster shell, too. Full-bodied and buttery with a ripe, flavorful palate.
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.
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.