2012 Rosella's Vineyard Chardonnay
In Stock
Our eighth ever Rosella’s Vineyard Chardonnay is again comprised entirely of Dijon Clone 76. In the fall of 2012, we hadn’t yet bottled our 2011 Rosella’s Chardonnay yet, thus we didn’t have enough used white barrels for the fermentation of the 2012. So we borrowed a couple new French oak barrels that would soon enter the Pinot Noir program, fermented the Chard in those, and as soon as the 2011 Chards were bottled, we transferred the 2012 Rosella’s out of the new oak and directly into five year old barrels. We’re pleased with the results, and also pleased that the wine doesn’t show much evidence of the new oak fermentation.
The 2012 August West Rosella’s Vineyard Chardonnay has a medium straw color, and a beautiful nose of nutmeg, coconut, and passion fruit. The tropical fruit nose that is typical of Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnays is very faint in the early stages of this Rosella’s. Our ’12 Rosella’s Chardonnay has a rich texture and a lot of complexity on the palate. If it didn’t have the natural, balancing acidity that the SLH always gives to its fruit, you might call this a big Chardonnay. The prime drinking window for this should be from 2014 through 2019.