Gundlach-Bundschu Winery

Here’s a wine that could easily pass for a Carneros product, because it’s grown just over the border from Carneros at the very bottom of the Sonoma Valley appellation. That means it gets blown cool even on the warmest afternoons, and stays cool well into the morning before the fog lifts. The plant material is classic California (Wente and Robert Young clones), and the winemaking also shows plenty of California’s muscular approach to Chardonnay: whole cluster pressing, a cold soak, barrel fermentation with a percentage of new French oak, and stirring of the lees for nine months.

One of the best things about this wine is that you can smell or taste just about every one of those elements. The whole cluster pressing and cold soak captured the brighter aspects of the apple, melon and pear flavors, while the barrel fermentation and lees stirring infused the wine with warmth, richness and a gorgeous palate spread. Normally I don’t tie flavor and mouthfeel descriptors to winemaking so directly, but it’s clear that winemaker Linda Trotter created exactly the wine she had in mind. It’s not a giant wine, and the alcohol is just a shade above 14 percent , but it’s big enough to bring plenty of pleasure for $25.

Reviewed July 10, 2007 by Thom Elkjer.