White Wine

Color: Straw gold with delicate greenish tints. Bouquet: Fresh and pleasant, with lingering citrus notes. Taste: Full, crisp, dry and harmonious. Serving Suggestions: An ideal companion to cold appetizers and hors d’oeuvres, as well as veal dishes and pork entrées. Serve slightly chilled.

Pear, lime zest, and apricot blossom aromas awaken the senses. The mid-palate expands into a rich and long finish. Melon and lychee are supported by flinty minerality, making this wine a perfect pairing for spicy dishes.

Following its brilliant, silver straw-yellow hue, this Chardonnay has intense primary aromas of apple blossom, ripe pear and sweet lemon drop, complemented by toasty oak, spice and cream. The wine’s silky smooth texture is overlaid with bright juicy flavors of rich, ripe apple and pear, lingering into a fresh, satisfying finish. This rich, silky Chardonnay is ideal with lobster and other shellfish, especially if served in a butter or cream sauce, roasted poultry or other white meats, creamy pasta dishes, a buttery mushroom omelet or any meal tinged with sweet spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger.

This is a terrific bottle of Chardonnay, regardless of whether it hails from Napa Valley or from Burgundy. The style is clearly an amalgamation of the best of both idioms. It doles out plenty of delectably forward, Napa Valley yellow apple fruit, but the richness is checked by brisk acidity and refreshing notes of cool climate minerality imparted by the chilly Carneros microclimate. While oak is present in the wine's structure, the effect is subtle and understated, much as it would be in a top quality white Burgundy. In short, this is one of the most enjoyable Chardonnays I've tasted in a long time, at a ridiculously low price. Highly recommended.
-- Ben Giliberti, CW Director of Wine Education

This delicious white, from white wine master and enology professor Denis Dubourdieu, has bright and tangy flavors of lemon-zest and grapefruit, with a very long and focused finish that ends with a nice bit of minerality. It should age nicely, if you can wait! (tasted three times including once with Denis Dubourdieu himself)
-- CW Wine Staff (April 2011)

The 2012 Sauvignon Blanc opens with intense grapefruit, passion fruit and green mango notes and touches of pineapple and fresh sage. Medium-bodied with a fair amount of viscosity to the texture, it has lively acid and a long finish. Drinking well now, it should keep to 2014+.