Jean Leon 3055 Chardonnay 2015
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After emigrating to America, Jean Leon found his way to Hollywood, where he opened one of the most famous restaurants there, La Scala. As a member of the Hollywood community, the patrons he attracted were the great names of the silver screen. Then, by chance, when he was on holiday on the Catalonian coast, he saw a vineyard for sale in the Penedes. He bought the land, took a crash course in enology back in California, and began to replant his property with high-quality French varieties. The first harvest came in 1969, and since then, the Jean Leon wines have been extremely successful. Current holdings include 395 acres in the Penedes, and all the wines are estate bottled.
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 superior source of white grapes for the production of Spain’s prized sparkling wine, Cava, the Penedes region is part of Catalunya and sits just south of Barcelona. Medio Penedès is the most productive source of the Cava grapes, Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada. Penedes also grows Garnacha and Tempranillo (here called Ull de Llebre in Catalan), for high quality reds and rosès.