2011 August West “Rosella’s Vineyard” Chardonnay

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2011 August West “Rosella’s Vineyard” Chardonnay

Okay, okay, when it comes to the Santa Lucia Highlands there are three wineries that always come to my mind: Pisoni (Lucia Vineyards), Roar and August West.  I’m sure there will be some to argue this point with me but in my mind they are the best of the best!  This said, I must state that August West doesn’t have a winery in SLH and also produces wines from numerous vineyard designations.  It’s just two of the major players involved winery have deep roots in SLH and we tend to purchase only their SLH designated wines including the 2012 August West “SLH” Pinot Noir and 2011 August West “Rosella’s Vineyard” Pinot Noir (click the links to see products).

The two key players for us in this winery are Gary Franscioni, owner of Roar and partner with Gary Pisoni in the Garys’ Vineyards and Ed Kurtzman, winemaker of August West and Roar.  Franscioni’s estate vineyard “Rosella’s” (named after his wife) is one of the premier vineyards in all of California for Pinot Noir.  Franscioni has 50 acres of perfect southeast exposure vineyards planted to several different varieties including; pinot noir, syrah and chardonnay.

Ed Kurtzman began his winemaking career in 1994 with Carmel Valley based winery Bernardus.  Since then he has held the head winemaking position at several wineries including Testarossa, Fort Ross, Freeman, Sandler Wine Company, Roar and August West.  Kurtzman has definitely is regarded as one of the best in the business and we think you will see that too when trying this rare treat of which only 47 cases were produced.   Hope you enjoy!

 

Winery Tasting Notes:

“The 2011 Rosella’s Vineyard Chardonnay has the typical Santa Lucia Highlands tropical fragrance of passion fruit with citrus notes.  It takes off on the palate with plenty of up front fruit and acidity, and has a long, pleasant finish.  We expect the 2011 Rosella’s to drink well from 2013 through 2016.”

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