Winemaker Notes
This Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a beautiful pale, medium straw color. On the nose, you are enveloped with stone fruit aromas of white peach and apricot along with vanilla laced oak spice, toasted nuts, light caramel and subtle notes of cinnamon, clove, and an underlying light floral note. The creamy richness of this medium-bodied wine boasts flavors of ripe pear and peach. This is an elegantly structured Chardonnay that offers a lot of finesse and a focused balance from start to finish. You will find Sonoma-Cutrer’s signature vibrant acidity well-balanced with nice length that rounds out to a pleasant, lingering finish of barrel spice.
Pairs well with chicken, risotto and seafood.
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.
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.