Chardonnay La Carrière 2018
AVA, Peter Michael Winery, 750 ml
| Grape variety: | Chardonnay |
| Producer: | Peter Michael Estate |
| Origin: | USA / California / Napa Valley |
| Other vintages: |
Description
The steep and rugged terrain of the La Carrière vineyard produces fruit with a great concentration of flavor and aroma. Typically, this wine offers the most lean, citrus-like fruit profile of their four single vineyard Chardonnays, along with a vivid minerality that evokes nuances of sea salt and wet stones. La Carrière is named for the steep, rocky and shallow soils found at the high elevation and the vineyard’s distinctive bowl-shaped top section. Terroir-driven minerality remains the hallmark of this vineyard, with aromas of brioche, gingerbread, almond, royal jelly, vine blossoms, jasmine, hazelnut and Williams pear. The nose is dominated by aromas of mandarin orange, acacia, hazelnut and grapefruit. Accents of orange blossom, acacia and vanilla complete the elegant bouquet. Citrus oils, white peach and lemon highlight the minerality. Wonderfully concentrated and elegant on the palate, the wine is sculpted, rich, intense and creamy. La Carrière is enjoyable now and will continue to develop for a decade or more.
Attributes
| Origin: | USA / California / Napa Valley |
| Grape variety: | Chardonnay |
| Ripening potential: | 2 to 15 years |
| Drinking temperature: | 10 to 12 °C |
| Food Pairing: | Grilled fish, Wild fowl, White cheese |
| Volume: | 14.5 % |
| Note: | Contains sulphites |
Chardonnay
King or beggar?
Hardly any variety of vine shows such a broad spectrum of quality as the Chardonnay. Its wines range from faceless neutrality to breath-taking class. It is an extremely low-maintenance vine, which explains why it is grown around the world – even in places where it probably should not be. The aromas of the Chardonnay variety are not very pronounced: a bit of green apple, a little hazelnut; in warmer latitudes, also melon and exotic fruits. The wines are often defined by maturing in casks. They develop more or less subtle notes of butter, toasted bread and vanilla. The grapes achieve their highest expression in their region of origin, Burgundy. Its heart beats in the Côte de Beaune: one might think of the plant growth of Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet. With their finesse and complexity, they can survive for decades. Chardonnay also achieves first class in some Blanc-de-Blancs champagnes. It additionally yields great wines in the Burgundian Chablis, and increasingly in Australia and Chile. A simple rule of thumb for pairing with food: When butter and cream are involved, you cannot go wrong with Chardonnay.
USA
USA - Yes, they can!
The United States is the third-largest nation on the planet in terms of both land area (after Russia and Canada) and population (after China and India). Every conceivable climate zone can be found in the US, from hot deserts to arctic frost. Thanks to immigration from all over the world, the US is probably the most multicultural country on the planet. Thus it has the ideal conditions for producing internationally recognized wine.
