Metz Road Riverview Vineyard Chardonnay

I've been really looking forward to opening this bottle since I got it! Metz Road specilizes in small-lot, single-vineyard Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from their estate Riverview Vineyard in the Salinas Valley of Monterey. To preserve the character of the Riverview Vineyard, they use sustainable farming practices and innovative winemaking techniques including on-site fermentations with wild yeast.

The 2017 Chardonnay is from clones Clone 4, Dijon 96, and Dijon 78. The fruit was hand-picked in the early morning, hand lugged, and gently pressed. Then the juice was placed into new French oak barrels within in a refrigeration unit, making for a long and cool barrel fermentation. After fermentation is complete, the wine is kept on its lees and aged in 100% French oak barrels (92% new) for 14 months and stirred regularly. The final blend comes from the best barrels, and the final ABV is 14.5%

The color of the wine is a pale straw yellow and it's got a friggin' kickass nose of clementines, apples, pears, vanilla, and oak. On the palate it's medium to full bodied with a rich and creamy mouthfeel, and a more zippy and lively acidity than I was expecting. There's flavors of pears, apples, pineapple, almonds, and vanilla. 

The key to this Chardonnay is drinking it slightly chilled or even room temperature. When I first opened it up it had been in the fridge all night and the acidity completely took over the finish and really made it feel unbalanced and tart. But I let the bottle warm up and the finish become more buttery and butterscotchy with, yes, tart green apples that complimented rather than dominated.

It's an interesting Chard and a zippier oaky Chard for sure, which actually makes it much more flexible in food pairings than the ones with heavy malo.

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $30

Rating: 3.5/5 = Satisfying / Recommended (what does that mean?)

The bottle used was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.