Sebastiani Chardonnay 2017 (California)

Description

"It is delightfully fragrant on the nose showing golden peach, rockmelon, vanilla custard and toasted hazelnut characters. The palate is equally satisfying with excellent mid palate weight and rich texture, finishing persistent and creamy. A lovely generous style. At its best: now to 2020" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Feb 2019

"Our 2017 North Coast Chardonnay is a light golden color with aromas of fresh apples, citrus and nectarine. The palate is rich yet crisp, with flavors of apricot, baked peaches, lemon and vanilla. Undertones of crème brûlée and toast are met with balanced acidity and a smooth finish. This is easy to drink style Chardonnay can pair with a variety of food and also stands well on its own"  David Nakaji, Winemaker

The 2017 growing season started out with record setting rainfalls, delaying bud break from years past. Spring and Summer experienced a mixture of foggy, warm, and windy conditions. The Summer months were moderately warm allowing the grapes to mature at an ideal pace. Extreme heat spikes at the end of August to early September pushed harvest ahead of schedule. All of the fruit entered the winery from September 7 – October 15, 2017 at optimum ripeness.

The 2017 North Coast Chardonnay features fruit from Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino Counties. All of these appellations are well known for producing ripe and flavorful Chardonnay. The vineyards are a collection of fruit that produce full bodied and wonderfully aromatic wines.

Hand-picked and whole-cluster pressed the grapes, and then racked roughly half of the juice into barrels for primary and malolactic fermentations. The remainder of the fruit was tank fermented at cooler temperatures to preserve the bright fruit and firm structure. After fermentations, the wine was aged in French, Hungarian and American oak barrels.