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The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 is 100% Chardonnay and has been the best-selling Chardonnay in the US for 29 years in a row. Kendall Jackson is a family-owned winery founded in 1982 and was instrumental in popularizing Chardonnay in America.
The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 is sourced from several California AVAs, 54% from Monterey, 25% from Mendocino, 20.5% from Santa Barbara, and .5% from Sonoma. Why is half of one percent of the grapes coming from Sonoma? While I do not know the winemaker’s intentions everything you do to a wine changes the outcome, even seemingly minor details.
This Chardonnay is fermented and aged in small lots. The grapes are pressed in whole clusters, meaning the stems and the grapes are all together. Modern machines are capable of destemming the grapes, but the whole cluster is the old try-and-true method.
The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 was aged in oak barrels for six months, with 4.5% new French oak, and 6.5% new American oak. This is a Chardonnay made with precision and intention, .5% Sonoma grapes, and 4.5% new French oak, the winemaker was going for an exact result.
The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 has been extremely popular for almost three decades. Wine drinkers’ taste in wines has changed several times in the last thirty years. There was a time when heavily oaked Chardonnay was the rage and times when unoaked Chardonnay was popular.
Either Kendall Jackson was amazing at predicting wine trends or they created the trends in drinking Chardonnay. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 Tasting Notes
The color is wheat beer yellow. The nose is green apple, lemon, peach, butter, spice, melon, and a little tropical fruit. The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 is a rich, yet balanced Chardonnay, it has oak influence, but not too much, along with loads of flavor.
This Chardonnay tastes like apple, butterscotch, oak spice, peach, Anjou pear, grapefruit, and pineapple. There is a nectar-sweet sensation but is not a sweet wine. The mid-palate shows that salty/nutty on-lees thing, a hint of vanilla cream, and nectarine.
The acidity lets the flavor unfold while having you smacking your lips in anticipation of the next sip.
The Summary
- The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 tastes great.
- This is an easy-to-understand wine that is not dumbed down it has some complexity and personality, which is probably why it continues to be so popular.
