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The Sebastopol Oaks California Chardonnay 2019 is sourced from grapes grown on the Clarksburg and Lodi AVAs with some Paso Robles grapes added in. Sebastopol is a town that is situated inside bother the Sonoma Coast and the Russian River AVAs.
The Sebastopol Oaks California Chardonnay 2019 is one of the many wine brands from Owl Ridge Wine Sevices. They will produce wine to order, bottle your wine if you do not have a bottling wine, and make their own wines. They are the new model of the winery that can make wines as needed.
In looking through Owl Ridges’ website their own wines seem to be similar to Trader Joe’s Reserve wines in they seem to be premium wines at a lower-than-expected price. Using grapes from Clarksburg and Lodi brings a set of characteristics to the Chardonnay and the Paso Robles fruit adds a different flavor to the mix.
The Sebastopol Oaks California Chardonnay 2019 was partially oak barrel fermented which is a nice detail in a wine in the ten-dollar price range. The rest of the wine was fermented in the usual stainless steel tanks. The oak barrel is said to add a bit of cream and spice.
This Chardonnay was aged for an unspecified time in French oak barrels, the winemaker says it gives this Chardonnay a “buttered popcorn” flavor. There seems to be some malolactic fermentation (changes the natural tart acid inside the grapes to a more rounded acid) since the flavor profile is apple pie and stone fruit. A Chardonnay with no malolactic fermentation tends to be citrus and fruit flavored. The alcohol content is 13.7%.
The Sebastopol Oaks California Chardonnay 2019 Tasting Notes
The color is a pale golden yellow. The nose is floral with notes of lemon, apple, vanilla, spice, dried apricot, honey, and pineapple. The Sebastopol Oaks California Chardonnay 2019 is a sleek, lean Chardonnay that also has a rounded juicy side. I think that is an excellent combination.
This Chardonnay tastes like tart apple, vanilla cream, lemon chiffon, nectarine, and a little tangerine. The mid-palate shows a little of the nutty/salty on-lees thing, a hint of butter (no popcorn), Anjou pear, peach, and spice. The acidity does its job well and with all the mentions of French oak, the oak influence is subtle and adds good flavor.
The Summary
- The Sebastopol Oaks California Chardonnay 2019 is a very tasty Chardonnay, I think I paid less than $12 and this is an excellent wine for the money.
- There seems to be a great deal of care in selecting the grapes and the production of the wine and it shows in the glass.
