2021 Little Boat Chardonnay “750ML”

2021 Little Boat Chardonnay

2021 Little Boat Russian River Valley Chardonnay Coming primarily from Brad Alper’s Square Peg Vineyard, which shares real estate with the likes of Aubert, Dutton, and Riddle Ranch, this is unapologetic Russian River Pinot Noir.  Rich, layered, soft and surprisingly velvety. While it exhibits the full fruit and acidic backbone found in the finest Russian River Pinot Noirs, it also shows incredible balance and restraint. You will absolutely enjoy drinking it now, but if you give it a bit of time in the cellar it will continue to develop, improve and amaze

Chardonnay Wine

Chardonnay is the world’s most famous white-wine grape and also one of the most widely planted. Although the most highly regarded expressions of the variety are those from Burgundy and California, many high-quality examples are made in Italy, Australia, New Zealand and parts of South America.

Describing the flavors of Chardonnay is not easy. While many Chardonnay wines have high aromatic complexity, this is usually due to winemaking techniques (particularly the use of oak) rather than the variety’s intrinsic qualities. Malolactic fermentation gives distinctive buttery aromas. Fermentation and/or maturation in oak barrels contributes notes of vanilla, smoke and hints of sweet spices such as clove and cinnamon. Extended lees contact while in barrel imparts biscuity, doughy flavors. Because of this high level of winemaker involvement, Chardonnay has become known as the “winemaker’s wine”.

The variety itself (although often said to be relatively flavor-neutral) is responsible for most of the fruity flavors found in Chardonnay wines. These range from the tropical (banana, melon, pineapple and guava) to stonefruits (peach, nectarine and apricot), citrus and apples.
Climate plays a major role in dictating which fruit flavors a Chardonnay will have. Broadly speaking, warm regions such as California, Chile and much of Australia tend to give more tropical styles. Temperate zones such as southern Burgundy or northern New Zealand create wines marked out by stonefruit notes. The very coolest