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Wine Description
The Story
Chateau Montelena’s Napa Chardonnay showed that the new world could create classicly balanced and complex wines in its own voice, and that from the right sites and with perseverance, the results could equal anything made the world over. Through fads and trends, Montelena has never changed in its philosophy of bringing the sunshine of California in a style that is structured, balanced and age worthy.
In 1976, in what is now memorialized as “The Judgment of Paris”, Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay was the top-ranking wine against four white Burgundies and five other California Chardonnays in a blind tasting with a who’s-who of the french food and wine industry judging. And as they say, the rest is history.
The Napa Valley Chardonnay is made of 100% Chardonnay grapes and was aged in 100% French oak barrels for 10 months. Emblematic to the style of the estate, it offers concentrated floral, green apple aromas and a refreshing and persistent impression on the palate.
Wine Information
The Chardonnay for the 2015 vintage is sourced from vineyards located in the south-central Napa Valley appellation, near the base of Mt. Veeder and Dry Creek Valley Road on the western bench of the Napa Valley. It has a good north-eastern exposure with a slope of 4-7%. The Haire-Loam soil has a profile very similar to that of the Carneros region, although the climate is slightly warmer. The vineyard site, developed from old ocean terraces and alluvial fans, contains a lot of sedimentary material such as decomposed shale and blue/gray clay. This soil mixture gives moderate drainage and slight acidity. Typically, the Chardonnay has a concentrated floral, green apple aroma and a refreshing and persistent impression on the palate.
Despite some early, sizable winter storms, the beginning of the 2015 growing season turned mild and dry prompting early budbreak in the vineyards. A light crop, resulting from a rather blustery April and May, soaked up the sun during a picture-perfect Napa Valley summer. Harvesting began in mid-August as the temperatures began to warm and dry-breezes from the desert pressed us into action. The end result is a stunning expression of Chardonnay.