The Wente Morning Fog Central Coast Chardonnay 2023 is a wine I found at a local grocery store, selling for $11.99. This is the entry Chardonnay for Wente Family Vineyards, who have a unique history with the Chardonnay grape.
The Story
Wente was founded in 1883 and is the oldest continuously operated family-owned vineyard and winery in the US. They are the first to grow and produce Chardonnay in America.
Around 125 years ago, Wente was a leader in developing strong, healthy grape varietal clones. France in the 1800s was devastated by pests and diseases in their vineyards, and stronger, more resistant grape clones were vital to solving the problem.
To this day, 75% of all Chardonnay wines are made from Wente clone grapes.
The Wente Morning Fog Central Coast Chardonnay 2023 is 98% Chardonnay and 2% Gewürztraminer. Wente has vineyards in the Livermore AVA (east of the San Fransco Bay, a little east and south of the city) and in Monterey. They do not claim this is an estate wine, but I imagine a good portion of the grapes came from Wente vineyards. This is a certified sustainable wine, and the winery and vineyards are certified sustainable.
This Chardonnay was fermented in a 50/50 blend of neutral American oak barrels and stainless steel vats.
Then aged again in 50% oak barrels, on lees, then stirred every month. Stirring the lees (dead yeast and grape residue) gives the wine a nutty, salty flavor and can add a creamy texture.
Half of the Stainless Steel portion is aged on lees, and the other half with lees removed.
This is a Chardonnay from the folks who wrote the book on Chardonnay. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
The Wente Morning Fog Central Coast Chardonnay 2023 Tasting Notes
The color is a pale sunshine yellow. The nose is apple, pineapple, a little lemon, soft spice, pear, and a hint of stone fruit. The Wente Morning Fog Central Coast Chardonnay 2023 is a mix of interesting flavors and textures.
This Chardonnay tastes like tart Green apple, vanilla cream, nectarine, faint peach, dried pineapple bits, lemon drops, and exotic spice.
The acidity allows the flavors to fully unfold.
The Summary
- The Wente Morning Fog Central Coast Chardonnay 2023 is a delicious wine.
- If you don’t like butter Chardonnay, try this one, is replaces butter with vanilla.
- Wente started the Chardonnay thing in America, and the Morning Fog shows they are still thriving.
