Nickel Nickel Chardonnay Truchard Vineyard 750 ml

Nickel & Nickel specializes in single-vineyards wines, and this one, from Truchard Vineyard in Carneros exemplifies why. It has the ripe California style--with pear, lemon and tropcial fruit--but balanced by cooler climate acidity, which also allows a subtle minerality to come through. There's a layer of vanilla cream from barrel fermentation that adds depth and texture to the wine, but since the wine doesn't go through malolactic fermentation, it's still refreshing. From the winery: "Truchard Vineyard lies in the heart of Carneros, prized for its rolling hills, sun exposure and cool, breezy conditions that allow long, even ripening. Nickel & Nickel makes wine from fourteen select acres of this 270-acre vineyard, composed of volcanic ash and rock with a southwestern exposure. The growing season tends to be long in this cooler area, allowing for fully mature fruit at harvest. This vineyard is predominately a neutral, gravelly loam from the Felton soil series, which are well-drained soils formed from weathered sandstone and shale. This wine shows the classic style of Carneros Chardonnay."