2018 Ferrari-Carano Fiorella Chardonnay, Russian River Valley
90 Points - Wine Spectator
Winemaker Notes
This wine is fragrant with floral aromas along with apples, toasted marshmallows and quince while flavors of citrus, peach, pears, vanilla, brioche and butter cream delight the palate. Fiorella is an elegant, well-balanced wine with nice acidity and a long, lingering finish.
Food Pairing Notes
Our Fiorella Chardonnay is the perfect wine to serve as an apéritif. It also pairs nicely with light pasta and seafood courses or chicken, pork, turkey and veal. Mild‐flavored cheeses are also excellent choices.
Composition
100% Chardonnay
Wine Specs
Vintage
2018
Varietal
Chardonnay
Appellation
Russian River Valley, Sonoma County
Acid
.56 g/l
pH
3.4
Aging
35% new French oak, 65% older French oak
Bottling Date
February 2020
Alcohol %
14.2
Wine Spectator
90
Production Notes
Grapes for this wine are gently hand harvested and whole-cluster pressed. The juice is cold settled for 24 hours, racked to barrels and fermented with native yeasts for 25 days. This wine undergoes 97% malolactic fermentation and is sur lee aged for 10 months with weekly stirring in 35% new French oak barrels. The final blend was assembled in July 2019, then barrel aged in 95% neutral oak until bottling, for a total of 15.5 months barrel aging.
Vineyard Notes
2018 was a very good year with ideal weather conditions for the vines. Spring produced great set, and average rainfalls led to normal to above-normal yields. Consistently warm temperatures during the summer months without any drastic heat spikes or rain events allowed for longer “hang time” for the grapes, which led to fully ripe flavors.
