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: