La Colline aux Fossiles - Chardonnay 2023
Price: $19.99
| Producer | La Colline aux Fossiles |
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| Country | France |
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| Region | Roussillon |
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| Varietal | Chardonnay |
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| Vintage | 2023 |
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| Sku | 18327 |
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| Size | 750ml |
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The "Who" for this wine is the man I consider one of the top winemakers in the world – Jean-Marc Lafage. The "Where" is his home in Roussillon, France. Most of you are familiar with Lafage by now – we have sold over 5,000 cases of his wines! So let’s focus on the ‘where’.
Roussillon is a wild region sitting just north of the Pyrenees Mountains bordering Spain. With its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, undulating hills, towering mountains, shaded valleys and rocky exposures, there is a kaleidoscope of soils and microclimates to play with. In short, with some attention to detail, you can find the PERFECT place to grow just about any grape. With Chardonnay, since it can be grown almost anywhere, you grow it in the perfect place and make the most PERFECT wine!
The vineyard for this wine is located inland along the Têt River valley. At thirty years of age, the vines have reached full maturity, resulting in fruit offering complex and intricate flavors. But it’s the soil that makes the difference here – a unique blend of deep, red clay with abundant limestone. When we think of limestone, we turn towards Burgundy, particularly Chablis, where the soil imparts intense minerality. Clay, like we find in Napa Valley, provides weight, structure and intensity. Put them together, like we have here, and the resulting wine is… well… delicious! Ripe, exotic fruit, married with just 30% oak barrel aging for some texture, all balanced by vibrant acidity and a pronounced minerality. Truly, it left Rich grasping for comparisons. A love child between Chablis, Macon, Chassagne-Montrachet and, for international intrigue, Napa Valley?
“All Chardonnay brought up in used demi-muids, the 2019 La Colline Aux Fossiles sports a medium gold hue to go with terrific stone fruits, caramelized citrus, white flowers, and honeysuckle-like aroma and flavors as well as a beautiful sense of minerality that emerges with time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied and beautifully textured, with a layered mouthfeel and a great finish, it's another knockout Chardonnay from the team of Eric Solomon and Jean-Marc Lafage.” JD on 2019
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