Chardonnay Ma Belle-Fille 2021
AVA Knights Valley, Peter Michael Winery, 750 ml
Description
The 2021 ‘Ma Belle-Fille’ flashes light yellow and gold in the glass, with a stunning array of yellow spring flowers, honeysuckle, jasmine, and honey forming a highly fragrant nose supported with notes of fresh peach, vanilla cream, and marzipan. The soft entry leads to a rich, multilayered midpalate with great depth and concentration. This is a focused, precise wine with a remarkable length that promises to reward cellaring for a decade but can be enjoyed young.
Attributes
| Grape variety: | Chardonnay |
| Producer: | Peter Michael Estate |
| Origin: | USA / California / Napa Valley |
| Ripening potential: | 2 to 15 years |
| Drinking temperature: | 10 to 12 °C |
| Volume: | 15.0 % |
| Note: | Contains sulphites |
Peter Michael Winery
In the 1970s, Sir Peter Michael came to California as a young engineer and discovered the emerging wine world of California, with some excellent names already drawing international attention.
This awakened his desire to try something new. The search for a suitable piece of land ended in the secluded Knights Valley on the western slope of Mount St. Helena, in the east of Sonoma County, north of Napa Valley. The first vines were planted in 1983. His son Paul was helping out at the time and was full of enthusiasm, although the rows of vines were extremely difficult to set up on the very steep (inclines of up to 40%), stony layers of primarily volcanic rock. Later, Sir Peter was able to buy more plots of land on the coast and in Oakville, in Napa: Fort Ross-Seaview, with perfect growing conditions for Pinot Noir, and Au Paradis, planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
California
California: Lots of fruit and ripe tannins
Around 90 percent of the wine produced in the USA comes from California. The Napa Valley, situated roughly 100 kilometers north of San Francisco, is the most prominent wine region in the western hemisphere. California vintners first caused an international sensation with Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, however, superior wines are also produced from Pinot Noir, Syrah and other varieties. California’s wine country shows more variety today than ever before.
USA
USA - Yes, they can!
The United States is the third-largest nation on the planet in terms of both land area (after Russia and Canada) and population (after China and India). Every conceivable climate zone can be found in the US, from hot deserts to arctic frost. Thanks to immigration from all over the world, the US is probably the most multicultural country on the planet. Thus it has the ideal conditions for producing internationally recognized wine.
