2017 SADDLEBACK NAPA VALLEY CHARDONNAY

In winemaking, seasoned winemakers often have an advantage… They’ve spent years honing their skills, and perfecting their individual winemaking style, and along the way they’ve encountered just about every obstacle in the process.  Nils Venge has been making Chardonnay from his Oakville Estate Vineyard located behind OPUS ONE since 1983, and he’s developed a style of making rich, creamy, opulent Chardonnay that’s loaded with succulent fruits, and will appeal to a large audience.  It’s also a remarkable value.

Saddleback’s 2017 Chardonnay strategically combines 54% fruit from the winery’s Oakville Estate Vineyard with 20% Truchard in Carneros, 23% Swanson, also in Oakville, and 3% Starr in Rutherford, and the matrix of unique terroirs and clonal selections creates nice tension on the palate, and adds to the basket of succulent white and yellow orchard fruits.

The style is unabashedly California Style Chardonnay, with a rich, creamy texture, opulent fruit, butterscotch and caramel.  The wine is barrel fermented and aged sur-lie, (pronounced sur lee) a French term meaning literally on the sediment and the sur lie style aging plays a large role in contributing to this wine’s incredible richness and buttery aromas.