La Crema Winery
2012 Arroyo Seco Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Arroyo Seco
Mission Briefing
The Outperformer
After one sip of today’s La Crema Winery 2012 Arroyo Seco Chardonnay, we can guarantee you’ll never again reach for that old standby, Rombauer. Today’s wine is more elegant, more delicious, and, dare we say, simply a better wine than that more notable brand.
Robert Parker raved about today’s wine, calling out its ripe, full bodied notes of exotic fruit flavors. He awarded today’s wine 92 Points, and you’ll quickly see why after pouring yourself a glass.
Give today’s Chard a chance - we guarantee you’ll be more than impressed.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | A lovely subtle pale gold through and through. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Supremely elegant and feather light aromatics on today’s wine, with lush exotic fruit notes of papaya and guava framed by vanilla bean, peach blossom, orange oil, key lime, and a touch of brioche. |
| Taste: | The palate favors more fresh and crisp flavors, which provides a wonderful counterbalance to the creaminess of the nose. More subdued exotic fruit notes are joined by flavors of green apple, honeycomb, browned caramel, and freshly baked buttery brioche. |
| Finish: | A very refined Chardonnay, without any ‘in your face’ creaminess. Instead, a more seductive wine, with a lasting note of almost browned sugar that lingers through and through. |
| Pairing: | Chilled salmon with a citrus infused crème fraîche, served on a hazelnut crostini - YUM! |
What the Winery Says
Juicy and complex, the 2012 Arroyo Seco Chardonnay offers a generous nose filled with Key lime, baking spice, peach blossom and caramel, while the expansive palate introduces layers of cantaloupe, tropical fruit and marzipan, underscored with the distinct impression of wet river stone. The broad mid-palate texture is balanced 2012 by the vibrant citrus character and natural acidity.
92 Point Review - Robert Parker …emphasizes the tropical fruit spectrum…from pineapple to mango to lychee-like notes. Ripe, medium to full-bodied and fleshy with terrific purity…
90 Point Review - Wine Enthusiast Made in a drier, tarter style than the winery’s Russian River bottling, this Chard favors elegance over opulence. It’s streamlined and crisp, with subtle notes of green apples, kumquats and honey, gently touched by smoky oak.
- Winemaker
- Elizabeth Grant Douglas
- Accolades
- 92 Points - Robert Parker, 90 Points - Wine Enthusiast, 90 Points - Stephen Tanzer
- Appellation
- Arroyo Seco, Monterey
- Fruit Variety
- 100% Chardonnay
- Clone Selection
- Rued, Clone 4, Clone 76
- Cooperage
- 8 months in 100% French oak, 25% new
- ABV
- 13.5%
About the Winery
For more than 30 years, La Crema has explored California’s coastal appellations, a voyage of varietals that started here at our estate in the foggy vineyards of the Russian River Valley. On our journey, we have found exciting cool-climate vineyards north in the rugged hills of Mendocino, and south along the wind-swept slopes of Los Carneros. Most recently, our exploration has taken us to the wind-swept hillside vineyards of Monterey.
Centered always on the dual lens of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, we look for one unifying factor at these exceptional sites: coastal wind and fog that allow the grapes ripen slowly on the vine, developing intensely complex aromas and flavors while retaining firm acid structure.
Naturally, our winemaking team seeks to express the essence of the terroir in our wines, capturing the unique personality and flavor profile of the vineyards.
Winemaker Elizabeth Grant-Douglas
Elizabeth Grant-Douglas infuses our winemaking regime with a highly personal touch that combines the best of traditional Burgundian winemaking techniques with a contemporary California style.
Elizabeth Grant-Douglas’ love of winemaking began at a young age in the basement of her childhood home in Niagara Falls, Canada. It was there that her parents made wine from grapes grown in her father’s hobby vineyard out back, and she learned about viticulture first-hand as she helped him tend the vines. Elizabeth first earned a degree in Economics at the University of Waterloo before switching gears entirely to focus on the art and skill of winemaking. She was part of the first graduating class of Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture program.
Always fascinated by the unique challenges of making wine from grapes grown in cooler climates, she began her career working in several Canadian wineries including Inniskillin, Chateau des Charmes and Thirteenth Street, before heading to Washington and, finally, the Sonoma Coast.
Here, the Sonoma Coast vineyards are a natural fit for Elizabeth’s experience and specialized education, giving her unique insight on the rigors of grape growing and winemaking in cool regions. Not surprisingly, she is particularly drawn to the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards of Russian River Valley because of the ideal growing conditions it offers these classic Burgundian varietals.
Elizabeth joined La Crema as an enologist in 2001 and was named Winemaker in 2010. She was promoted to her current position in 2013. Her journey of discovery and craftsmanship continues as her relationship with the gorgeous Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris fruit of California’s coastal wine regions evolves.