Make no mistake — this Chardonnay didn’t spend any time in oak barrels, but the primary fermentation wasn’t in stainless steel either. While much of the Columbia Crest’s estate vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills near Paterson, Wash., are machine-harvested, Juan Muñoz Oca’s white team took special measures here. Not only did they have the Block 95 lot picked by hand on Sept. 23, but they also fermented it in a 422-gallon egg-shaped concrete tank for three weeks before aging on the lees for five months. The nose opens to a tropical theme with pineapple before giving off aromas of apricot, lemon curd, butterscotch and lanolin. Its entry is even more fruitful, leading with white peach and dried apricot flavors, followed by salivating lemon-lime acidity and Gala apple peel bite in the finish. Find this online or at the winery.
Rating: Excellent
Production: 125 cases
Alcohol: 14.5%
Leave a Reply