Santa Cruz Mountains Wine for The Colder Months

Mount Eden Chardonnay has one of the longest bottling lineages in California.  This full-bodied California Chardonnay wine is perfect for the fall and winter months.  Vintages such as this Mount Eden Chardonnay 2006 also make for a wonderful gift that can easily be enjoyed years later – something to keep in mind as we make our holiday season rounds to see friends and family. 

Rich History of Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay

Before delving into the more subtle details of this Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay, let’s take a moment to appreciate the rich history of Mount Eden vineyards. Since the founding of Mount Eden vineyards in 1945, they have embraced the idea of allotting small areas of land for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Mount Eden Vineyards is known as one of the first “boutique” wine estates in California.  The production yields significantly less cases than vineyards that make California Chardonnay wine, however it is at wineries such as this that you can often find top-notch wine production in the making.

Mount Eden Chardonnay Wine Review:  Hold On for the Zest!

And now on to the 2006 Mount Eden Chardonnay wine itself.  After allowing a few minutes to breath, the bouquet proved to be quite an interesting experience.  Upon first taste, there were hints of apricot in this California Chardonnay wine and then all of a sudden, an interesting spurt of cardamom!  There was definitely a certain sweetness, not overly fruity, more of a lemon essence.  The full-bodied flavor and lemon zest lingers for a few moments, leaving a refreshing sensation in your mouth.  If you enjoy Thai food, Mount Eden Chardonnay 2006 may be the perfect accompaniment.

In order to evolve these interesting flavors, the Mount Eden Chardonnay grapes are pressed and then allowed to remain in French Burgundy barrels before being aged for 10 months.  Prior to bottling, the wine is filtered and then placed in the cellar for two years.  Sometimes knowing the intricate history behind the bottle of wine that you are about to enjoy makes the experience that much more gratifying.  Especially in the case of Mount Eden Chardonnay 2006, whose long history compared to other California Chardonnay wines makes it a noteworthy selection as a gift or on a cold winter’s night.

2007 Cuvaison Chardonnay from Napa Valley, California

It’s not often that I actually crave a Chardonnay. Particularly warily, I have been on California Chardonnays and their often intense perfusions of oakeyness.

Chardonnay has it’s Time

This past Sunday was one of those last of the season perfect fall days. The sun was finally out, the ground was drying up again, and the leaves on the trees actually had some brightness in them. After pumpkin picking, it seemed like a good time to open up a bottle of wine and the 2007 Cuvaison Chardonnay happened to be on hand. 

Cuvaison Chardonnay

Sitting at the outdoor bar on the leaf covered bluestone patio with dear friends, the koi pond gurgling in the background, the bottle was opened and the wine glasses filled. Even with the Wine Enthusiast rating of 92, I didn’t really expect the really enjoy the Chardonnay because I just don’t care for most Chardonnay’s, but I was still open minded.

Best Chardonnay Tasting Notes

On first look, the Cuvaison seemed to have certain lightness to it for a Chard. Often a Chardonnay will have a deeper, more golden color to it and maybe it was the sunlight in the yard, but it had a nice bright sunny color.

For me, the nose spoke of honey. Other tasting notes call for more of a crème brûlée, custard, vanilla, caramel, crème fraiche or buttered apple aromas, so there is a definite creamy, rich sweetness there.  Tasting itself, the forward feel is that buttery sweeter goodness, but then the Cuvaison is surprisingly bright and crisp. It was very refreshing and not at all too heavy at all.  I found that the creaminess gave way to a pleasant citrus, mostly lemon, maybe a bit of grapefruit? It most certainly had a forward citrus fruit, though other tasting notes for this Chardonnay call for crisp apple, melon, caramel, Meyer lemon custard, pineapple. Bottom line: it’s got a nice light fruit feel to it with that buttery creamy balance.

After the fruit, the finish held on, but not too to long. Some oak as expected, but not at all too rough. It was much smoother than expected and very balanced.  It was all too pleasant, sitting in the crisp fall sun, drinking this bright and crisp wine with friends and talking about the sensations that were happening as we sipped.  If I had planned better, a tray of fruit, cheese and crackers would have made it complete, though a nice clam bake would have done just as well too!

All and all, one of the best Chardonnays I have had in a while and I am looking forward to drinking it again.  An added bonus? It’s one of our top wine picks this week and is one sale from it’s regular price. 

You can buy the 2007 Cuvaison Chardonnay on Sale for only 15.00!

On another note; The Cuvaison Winery has a very nice wine blog with some videos of the winery and winemaking process and some really great looking recipes.  Like here is a video of the Cuvaison exclusive vineyard tour with Winemaker Steven Rogstad:

How Mount Eden Brings Us Back

Chardonnay Wine Tastings; then and now

Perhaps 15 years ago a number of us who drink wine on a regular basis decided to do a blind tasting of the California Chardonnays. I am pretty sure we focused on Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley Chardonnays. We did this tasting over several weeks since we wanted to get a broad representation of wines, all from the same vintage.

California producing some rather mid range Chardonnay

There were some very highly rated California wines included in this Chardonnay wine tasting and some rather expensive entries as well. After the tasting, many of us reached the same conclusion: the wines were all good and on a simple 5 point scale, scored 3ish. What was striking was how similar they were. They had that big, oaky, malelactic style. And as wine people tend to do, we discussed this for some length over more bottles of Chardonnay over the ensuing months.

The California Chardonnay Conclusion

At that time, Napa and Sonoma Valley wineries, on balance, were making their wines to hit a perceived, and perhaps actual, American palate. This was an American palate that grew up on sweeter wines and loved the oak to match this taste preference.

Leaving Chardonnay

So, we went the opposite extreme. We had “ABC Tastings” as in Anything But Chardonnay.

We yearned for winemakers that would let the fruit do the talking and provide less influence on the outcome. We reminded ourselves why we liked French White Burgundy so much. We also found refuge in other California wine growing areas. Central Coast, Edna Valley, St. Luis Obispo (SLO) struck that balance of tropical fruit and traditional chardonnay flavors. The wines were lively, friendly and great wines by themselves or with food.

Fast Forward, Back to California’s Mount Eden:

Tiring a bit on Sauvignon Blanc, I decided to revisit Chardonnays. I began with a bottle of Edna Valley’s 2007 Mount Eden Chardonnay from Wolff Vineyard in California.  The color was slightly lime green (but then I was wearing a lime green shirt), exceptionally clear and bright. The first thing I noticed was that Edna Valley fruit. This wine had the fruit talking with some lemony citrus and lots of forward fruit; pear, spice, hint of apple. The Mount Eden Chardonnay was ripe and intense with a pleasant, long finish. 

Priced at only $19.00 a bottle, this is a great price for a wine this complex and accessible. I bought a few more.

Chardonnay Wine Tasting part deux

Pleasantly surprised by my delight with the Mount Eden Chard, I went to another California Chardonnay tasting.

This time it was a brown bag night at my favorite wine retailer. Folks bagged up their chardonnays and we tried perhaps 10-12 Chardonnays blind. Only a couple had that big, buttery, oaky taste that I ran away from years ago. Most of them were truly lovely and worth drinking much like the Mount Eden.

This made me wonder if the vineyards were changing or the wine producers had changed their style — or perhaps the American consumer had finally matured their pallet away from that sweeter preference.

Either way, I’ll be tasting more California Chardonnays in the weeks and months to come, rediscovering a wine that I left many years ago.