Kendall-Jackson Avant Chardonnay 2012
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Robert
Parker
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A new cuvee for me was the 2012 Chardonnay Avant, a 170,000-case cuvee of 100% Chardonnay that was sourced from the Central Coast (60%) and the North Coast (40%). Forty percent was barrel-fermented in neutral oak, and the rest in stainless steel. Partial malolactic has added a creaminess to this full-bodied white. Dominated by tropical fruits, it also reveals a boatload of freshness, good acidity, and terrific purity as well as length. This wine tastes as if it cost two or three times the price. Drink it over the next several years.
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Back in 1974, Jess Jackson saw in the fine vineyards of California's cool coastal regions fruit with a variety of outstanding flavors. What if there was a way to produce from this abundance, a single outstanding "cuvée" that offered both quality and value? The result, first released in 1983, was Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay, a rich, round and flavorful wine, made with hand-crafted methods. That same year, Grand Reserve was introduced, a line of ultra-premium wines that represented the full potential of California's finest vineyards and winemaking.
Today, over 5,000 acres of vineyard in California's coastal regions are farmed by Kendall-Jackson. Four separate wineries house what is possibly the single largest barrel-fermentation project in the world. But perhaps most important, is that Kendall-Jackson remains a family-owned winery.