Schug Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2020
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Winemaker Notes
This Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is produced with the minimal use of new oak, to allow the bright varietal character to shine through. It was harvested from selected vineyards located in the Sonoma Coast AVA, including the cooler microclimates of western Carneros. It has an elegant citrus aroma with hints of pineapple and white peach. The palate opens with delicate flavors of quince and stone fruits and finishes with a mouthwatering acidity. Try it paired with aged cheeses such as Gouda or Manchego, or with delicate seafood dishes, soups, and pastas.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
A portion of this wine aged sur lie in neutral oak barrels; the result, offering lemon ice, white grapefruit, honeysuckle, and peach meringue, is startlingly clean, crisp, and crystal in clarity. The enhanced texture brings out the best of its character.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Schug Chardonnay is fresh and well-balanced. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with aromas and flavors of ripe apple, savory spices, and sandalwood. Serve it with lightly-spiced, rotisserie chicken. (Tasted: September 11, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
Aromas of fresh linen, straw, matchstick and pink grapefruit. Well-balanced with medium body and a soft finish.
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Founded in 1980, Schug Carneros Estate Winery is the showcase and life-long dream of one of California's most celebrated winemakers. Walter Schug's reputation blossomed during his tenure as Founding Winemaker for Joseph Phelps Vineyards in the 1970s, where he made California’s first proprietary Bordeaux-Style blend (Insignia) and legendary vineyard designated Cabernets (Backus and Eisele Vineyards).
Drawing on his long experience in the production of fine wines in both Europe and California, Walter set up his own winery with his wife Gertrud in the cool, marine climate of the Carneros Appellation. Here he could focus on the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay varietals that had always been close to his heart.
Schug Carneros Estate Winery combines old world understanding and tradition with modern winemaking techniques. By using only the finest grapes available, and maintaining the best winemaking values, these wines have gained acceptance worldwide as true contemporary classics.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.