Chardonnay Sonoma Coast Chalk Hill 2022
£29.95 per bottle
ABV 14.5%
100% Chardonnay
Tasting Notes
This Chardonnay is estate grown in Sonoma and hand selected. It is a labour intensive wine, each barrel is carefully chosen for the grapes which all are fermented in French oak (45% new) with native yeasts, and weekly batonnage. After Malolactic lees stiring is monthly for 9 months. This is a ripe and rich Chardonnay, creamy and elegant with aromas and flavours of baked bread, pear, hazelnut and toastyness. An ageworthy wine.
Food
Pairs perfectly with salmon fillets or shellfish. Otherwise with roast poultry.
Region
Sonoma County, California, is one of the most important winegrowing regions in the whole of the United States. Vines have been planted here since the 1850s and, apart from the inevitable hiatus brought about by Prohibition, the county`s relationship with wine has been prolific and unbroken. Sonoma Valley is located in the county`s southeastern corner, and effectively mirrors the shape and orientation of Napa Valley just across the Mayacamas Mountains. It encompasses Bennett Valley, Sonoma Mountain and the western half of Carneros – arguably California`s finest "cool-climate" terroir. The Sonoma Valley climate is famously blessed with cooling fog, which rolls in from San Pablo Bay in the summer months. When combined with cooling ocean breezes, this means that Sonoma Valley is sufficiently cool yet sufficiently sunny to create wines which are elegant, bright and intensley flavoured.
Producer
Chalk Hill Wine Estates were established in 1972 by Fred Furth, after he was flying his plane over the Russian River and caught his first view of a natural amphitheatre carved into the hills of eastern Sonoma. His intuition told him this would be a great vineyard. Nowadays the estate has 120 hectares under vine. The vineyards are spread throughout the Chalk Hill appellation and based between the cooler Russian River and warmer Alexander valley and has a broad typography and many different microclimates and all are farmed sustainably. Chalk Hill Wines have outstanding quality and are well regarded in Sonoma.
