Wine Review 003: 2011 Truchard Chardonnay from Carneros in Napa

Wine for Normal People

Alcohol, Lifestyle, Arts, Education, Food, Wine, Dining, Grapes

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2013

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I love a crisp Chardonnay and Carneros, in southern Napa, usually delivers! This is a great wine, as you’ll hear us describe… The Wine: 2011 Truchard Chardonnay Where it’s from: Carneros, a cool climate area that straddles southern Napa and Sonoma. Price: $30 Alcohol: 13.9% Color: A pale straw, not to much color from the oak or over-ripe grapes! Smell: Very floral, like nightshade jasmine flowers and a mouthwatering lemon and green apple scent that made it seem lively. Taste: Much fuller and richer than we expected, with honeysuckle, jasmine, and then tropical fruits. Tons of pineapple and then vanilla from the oak but the acidity keeps the wine feeling fresh and light. As M.C. Ice says “I like how the oak is a side dish, not an entree. It balances the other flavors, doesn’t overpower them.” Great minerality too. Drink or sink?: Drink. An well-balanced, excellent and tasty Chardonnay. Very close to a European style but with great Cal [...]

Transcript

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0:00.0	Carnaros is an area of Napa-Sloma that I completely love and today our
0:18.3	wine review is on Truschard Chardonnay from Carnaros in Napa.
0:24.4	What is it about Carnaros that you like?
0:26.8	Oh, there's many things about Los Carnaros,
0:30.4	as would be properly said.
0:33.0	The Carnaras AVA is, or American Vit Cultural Area,
0:36.4	it straddles Sonoma Napa and it's just north
0:39.2	of the San Pablo Bay, which empties out into the Pacific Ocean. That area has a lot of fog. The fog will
0:45.8	roll in in the morning and it creates a very cool blanket over Carnaros. It makes it cooler
0:52.3	and much more moderate than the north of Napa, where the fog burns off fairly quickly,
0:58.0	and then you get warm, warm days. Carnaros is much more moderate in temperature and so cooler climate grapes like
1:06.1	Pineward and Chardonnay thrive here which is why there are a lot of sparkling
1:10.0	wine producers in the Carneros area.
1:13.2	The references that Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are major components of Champagne if you did not
1:17.2	know that or sparkling wine in this case.
1:20.0	Carneros is very interesting because in California it's the first wine region to be defined by its commonality like its climatic features rather than
1:29.2	This is Sonoma. This is NAP and these are counties. Really?
1:33.0	Yes, it was the first wine region to have that distinction.
1:35.0	Others have followed, but that was the first.
1:37.0	So let's talk about this wonderful Chardonnay.
1:40.0	Full disclosure, this wine was given to me by Anthony Trucard, who I really like, but still,
1:48.0	I guess that I'm even harsher on the wines that are given to me by friends because I want to make sure that I don't
	...

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