Give Chard a Chance
Chardonnay is a grape of many different personalities. Depending on where it’s grown and how it’s produced, Chardonnay can range from crisp and fruity, to oaky and buttery. We have a line up that shows off this range. We present two unoaked chardonnays and two oaked. Enjoy!
Knock on Wood
Grapes : 100% Chardonnay
Place : Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon - United States
Process: All stainless-steel and no malolactic fermentation. Procured from hillside vineyards in Yamhill-Carlton AVA, reminiscent of the grand crus of Burgundy's Cote d'Or. It benefited from a very long and cold fermentation - almost two months - resulting in a lean and mean wine with perfume of honeydew melon and pear surfing huge waves of minerals, bringing a nice tide of racy starfruit to the finish.
Family : Maison Noir is a two-fold lifestyle project producing both a T-Shirt line and Oregon wines. Founded by sommelier André Hueston Mack in 2007, both ends of Maison Noir incorporate a trademark attitude and personal perspective on wine subculture. André Hueston Mack decided to leave his “desk job” to pursue his passion for wine. While working as a sommelier in San Antonio. While still in Texas, Mack was awarded the prestigious title of Best Young Sommelier in America by the highly regarded Chaine des Rotisseurs. This recognition propelled him into the opportunity to work as a sommelier at Thomas Keller’s world-renowned The French Laundry in Yountville, California. Mack went on to accept the position of Head Sommelier at Keller’s equally famed Per Se in New York City, where he managed a 1800 selection award-winning wine list and consulted with Chef Keller on menu and pairing development regularly. Throughout his career Mack has forged unique relationships with luminary growers and winemakers from around the planet. It is with this prestigious group that Mack currently creates his wines.
Bottle: $25 | Glass: $11
House of Brown
Grapes : 95% Chardonnay, 5% Vermentino
Place : Lodi, California - United States
Process : Sustainable farming and Hand harvested, Fermented in stainless steel tanks and new French oak barrels. Aged for 3 months in tank (70%) and new french oak barrels (30%).
Family : The label is the picture of inclusivity. ‘House of Brown’ is a second label offspring of Brown Estate, Napa Valley’s first Black-owned estate winery. As our brand has attracted a terrifically diverse consumer base over the last 25+ years, a vibrant community and dynamic culture have coalesced in our ecosystem. HOUSE OF BROWN, created to expand access to the Brown wine experience, is an homage to our Come one, come all (come correct!) ethos.
Easy drinking anytime-anywhere wines, always in season. Produced by women of color, certified sustainable, vegan-friendly.
House of Brown is a Black-owned and women-led business.
Bottle: $21 | Glass: $9
Division “Un”
Grapes : 100% Chardonnay
Place : Willamette Valley, Oregon - United States
Process : Our Chardonnay “Un” is a cuvée of exceptional organic and biodynamic Chardonnay sites in the Willamette Valley. A mix of younger vines and long-term “estate-like” vines gives a truly cross-AVA look into Willamette Valley Chardonnay.
Chardonnay is an excellent conductor of “terroir” and notoriously amplifies winemaking decisions. The key, for us, is to find balance in ripeness and fermenting temperatures to allow the wine to truly channel the vintage and site. We like to vary the ripeness levels to coax different profiles from each of our sites and we are very careful with the barrels we choose to let them help structure and season the wine, but not dominate the character of the Chardonnay sites.
Family: Our Chardonnay “Un” is a cuvée of exceptional organic and biodynamic Chardonnay sites in the Willamette Valley. A mix of younger vines and long-term “estate-like” vines gives a truly cross-AVA look into Willamette Valley Chardonnay.
Chardonnay is an excellent conductor of “terroir” and notoriously amplifies winemaking decisions. The key, for us, is to find balance in ripeness and fermenting temperatures to allow the wine to truly channel the vintage and site. We like to vary the ripeness levels to coax different profiles from each of our sites and we are very careful with the barrels we choose to let them help structure and season the wine, but not dominate the character of the Chardonnay sites.
The aromatic profile bursts out of the glass with a bit of flinty reduction that carries over to exotic spiced stone fruits. The palate features dense saline-coated stone fruits and a very long finish. This wine is excellent out of the gate and we look forward to tasting the evolution in the months and years to come.
Bottle: $35 | Glass: $15
Mount Eden “Wolff Vineyard”
Grapes : 100% Chardonnay
Place : Santa Maria Valley, California
Process : Jean-Pierre Wolff farms 55 acres of Chardonnay vines in the bucolic Edna Valley, outside the town of San Luis Obispo. Originally planted in 1976 by Edna Valley wine pioneer Andy Macgregor (Wolff purchased the property from Macgregor in 1999), the vineyard is the oldest in the Edna Valley. Mount Eden has made Chardonnay from this vineyard since 1985. These mature vines typically yield two to four tons per acre.
After harvest, the fruit is trucked to our winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is pressed without crushing and entirely barrel-fermented in a mix of new, two and three-year-old French Burgundy barrels. Undergoing full malolactic fermentation, the wine is aged eight months in barrel until bottling.
Family : Mount Eden Vineyards is a small historic wine estate perched at 2000 feet overlooking Silicon Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Founded in 1945, it is recognized as one of the original “boutique” California winery properties, focusing on small lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mount Eden’s lineage of estate bottled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is the longest in California. Planted in austere, infertile Franciscan shale on a cool, exposed mountaintop, these low-yielding estate vineyards have consistently produced world-class wines for over a half-century. In 2007 Mount Eden acquired an additional 55 acre wine estate in the Saratoga foothills, which was christened Domaine Eden.
Since 1981 Jeffrey Patterson has guided the winemaking and grape growing at Mount Eden. His emphasis is on wine growing rather than winemaking; and an obsession with gentleness and naturalness in the handling of the grapes and wines is his ongoing passion.
Bottle: $33 | Glass: $14