2011 Vintner Select Chardonnay

2011 Vintner Select Chardonnay

The cool 2011 vintage provided the perfect growing conditions for ripening our estate chardonnay to a beautiful richness while maintaining a crisp, distinct acidity. The wine displays a complex range of flavors including melon, green apple, pear and jasmine and has a lovely agility and brightness on the palate. For the first time, grapes from our younger block of Dijon Clone 96 were utilized in the final blend, bringing in exotic notes that provide an exciting lift to the core of unctuous Clone 4. As it has been for the last few years, the wine is fermented in French oak of which only 25% is new, and malolactic fermentation is arrested at about 30% completion.

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Appellation: Sonoma County
Vintage: 2011
Harvest: September 2011
Fermentation: 25% New French Oak
75% Neutral French Oak
Cooperage: 25% New French Oak
75% Neutral French Oak
Blend: 100% Chardonnay
Alcohol: 14.2%
Bottling: June 2012
Production: 331 cases
Release Date: January 2013
Release Price: $48.00

Reviews

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  • Wine Spectator: July 31, 2013 - Rating: 90

    Intense, with a racy edge to the pure and persistent flavors of citrus, nectarine, and ripe pear. Long and cleansing on the finish. Drink now through 2018. - J.L.

  • The Wine Advocate: October 2013 - Rating: 91

    The 2011 Chardonnay Vintner’s Select, which comes from Pride’s mountain top estate vineyard, is a limited production (331 cases) beauty that spent time in 25% new oak, but you would never know that from its aromatics and flavors. Lots of honeysuckle, orange blossom and lemon oil scents jump from the glass of this medium to full-bodied white. It was put through partial malolactic to retain its acidity and delineation. Consume it over the next 4-5 years. As always, this winery situated at the crest of Spring Mountain on both sides of the Napa/Sonoma counties boundary, has turned out a portfolio of interesting as well as satisfying wines. Amazingly, Pride Mountain Vineyards now owns over 85 acres at high elevation sites spread over the top of Spring Mountain. Pride Mountain’s two flagship offerings are much more limited in availability, with only 569 cases of the 2010 Claret Reserve and 1,365 cases of the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.