Taste: Chardonnay in a rich, complex style. Lively and bright on the nose with apples, peaches, mangos, and fresh acidity, all surrounded in smoky oak tones. It is full bodied and very fleshy on the palate, with excellent depth of flavor and a long, mildly oaky finish. It tastes of tropical fruit, peach, lemon, toasted oak, and baked bread. As I write this (Oct. 2), the oak is dominant in this wine, but by the time it hits you the fruit and acid should come up to meet it. Enjoy with dishes calling for a richer style of Chardonnay, including poached salmon with hollandaise sauce, broiled halibut, crab Louis, or fettuccine a là carbonara.
Cameron Confidential: Again, think Rombauer. Those of you who remember Lot 30 will be thrilled with this release (which is, in my opinion, the better of the two wines). It's just coming around in the bottle right now and the oak is dominant, but it should be righted here in the next few weeks. This wine is sourced from two vineyards on the Napa side of Carneros, one of the cooler growing districts of California (due to the fogs coming up from the SF Bay) and one of the best places to grow the Chardonnay grape in California. This wine showcases the best of Carneros: bright acidity, tropical fruit, and pretty oak. To get to the final blend, our winemaker actually blended five different lots from two producers selling these wines between $24 and $29.
Lot 57
2006 Carneros Chardonnay
- Vintage: 2006
- Appellation: Carneros, Napa Valley
- Grape: Chardonnay
- Alcohol by volume: 14%
- Production: 5,000 cases
- Release date: October 4, 2007
- Online availability: Sold Out
