About This Product :
The Grape:
(2023 vintage) 78% Chardonnay, 22% Viognier
Carol’s Chardonnay is our golden-haired wild child, an exuberant and delectable mouthful of joy. Sourced from her estate vineyard in Dry Creek Valley, this vivacious white wine is a classic California Chardonnay with a delicate balance of richness and acidity to please all of you “Wild Things” out there… Remember, you are what you drink!
The Appellation:
78% Dry Creek Valley – Sustainably Grown Sonoma County, 17% Mendocino Co, 5% Central Coast
The Wine:
Tropical fruits like pineapple and a bit of guava, green apple, oak spice. Soft creamy mouthfeel, punctuated by bright acidity and a crisp finish. Walks the line between pure stainless steel fermented, leaner Chardonnay and the fat, buttery barrel-fermented style. Very food compatible with chicken, pork or fish!
Whole Cluster pressed, settled and racked to barrels. All Barrel-fermented, hand inoculated barrel by barrel with 6 yeast strains plus 20% wild yeast (uninoculated). Stirred weekly sur lie for six months (till early March). About 100% went thru malo-lactic fermentation.
- Average Brix at Harvest: 22.1°Brix (average)
Alcohol: 12.9%
Total Acidity: 0.55 gm/100ml
pH: 3.52
Cases Produced: 754 cases (750ml)
Release Date: June 1st, 2024
The Winery:
Based out of an industrial park in the city of Santa Rosa, Carol Shelton started at UC Davis in 1974, and is still making excellent wines with passion ’til this day. Carol has won Winemaker of the Year five times, has countless gold medals for her wines and was named one of eight Pioneer Women Winemakers of Sonoma County in 2005. She continues to win awards and accolades – her 2011 Wild Thing Zinfandel was included in the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2014.
With many harvests under her belt and her passion for winemaking still strong, Carol Shelton has become an iconic woman winemaker. For Carol, the best is yet to come.
