We are proud to announce the inaugural release of our Los Carneros Chardonnay. Styled in a similar fashion to our famous Proprietress Reserve bottling, the 2003 Los Carneros Chardonnay is ripe, rich and packed with flavor. The grapes for this wine came from our 12 acre Estate Vineyard located in the heart of the Carneros District. This supple Chardonnay is absolutely delicious now and provides a wonderful compliment to richer seafood delicacies. Less than 1,500 cases were produced.
The Experience
Aroma - Vibrant citrus, peach and melon fruits with hints of ripe fig and orange blossom. Complex barrel notes of vanilla, clove and honeysuckle.
Palate - Up-front juicy fresh fruit salad flavors with peach and key lime pie evolve into a rich, creamy palate with lemon-honey and butterscotch. Complex and long with hints of wet stone, pie crust and nutty oak on the finish.
The Vineyard
The grapes for Vine Cliff Winery's 2003 Los Carneros Chardonnay came from our twelve acre Estate Vineyard in the heart of the Los Carneros appellation. This vineyard is near the histoirc Winery Lake Vineyard, where Chardonnay was first planted over three decades ago. The los Carneros appellation is ideal for growing Charonnay because of its cooler climate. Cool foggy mornings in conjunction with the afternoon bay breezes allow the grapes to have a longer than average hang time for flavor development, while still retaining higher natural acidity. Our vineyard has seven individual blocks which are planted with five different Chardonnay clones. This diversity gives us a greater breadth of aroma and flavor profiles from which to choose when creating our final blend. Low yields and warm September weather resulted in early ripening, good flavor development and a compact Chardonnay hearvest season.
The Winemaking
Styled in a similar fashion to our famous Proprietress Reserve bottling, this inaugural release of the Los Carneros Chardonnay is ripe, extracted, rich and packed with flavor. The grapes for this wine came from our 12 acre Estate Vineyard located in the heart of the Carneros District. Our vineyard has seven individual vineyard blocks planted with five different clones of Chardonnay. This diversity gives us a variety of aroma and flavor profiles to choose from when creating our final blend. This fat, supple Chardonnay is absolutely delicious now and will be a wonderful compliment to richer seafood delicacies.