About this WINE
Calera Wine Company
Monterey County
Central Coast's fog-bound Monterey County, south of San Francisco, covers with 17,000 ha of mainly cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Since the early 1960s the Central Coast's Monterey County AVA's with its benign climate and silt soils, has proved the perfect market garden, America's (fruit) salad bowl if you like.
Dominated by the Salinas Valley AVA, the wide river valley is constantly cooled by Pacific fogs and ocean on-shore breezes, although irrigation is mandatory. Fresh grapefruit-flavoured Chardonnays is the what this region does best.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
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