2014 Ladd Cellars Chardonnay- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (5/5/2019)
Immediately impressive on opening, this shows a wide range of fruit tones, ranging from citrus to tropical. On the palate is shows a similarly wide range, with the riper fruit elements conveying breadth, while the more focused, acid-driven citrus aspects provide focus and structure.
It was a very interesting study in contrasts, and one that took some intellectual unpacking, especially since the wine was so much fun to drink that I didn’t get around to figuring out what was going on until half way through the bottle. Fascinating and delicious stuff from Ladd Cellars.
This was my second vintage working with this fruit…second vintage making a white, 2013 being the first of course.
The fruit is from a single vineyard on the coast, between Sebastopol, Occidental & Freestone. The vines are 40 years old…one of the things that hooked me in. It’s not known what the clone/selection the vines are. I’m guessing it’s a wente selection but that doesn’t narrow things much…there were a lot of wente variants back then. The soil is sedimentary, my preference for chards, and has a relatively neutral pH which helps with creating & retaining acidity (there’s a golf joke in here, but the last time I tried it folks laughed at me not the joke, so…). One character/flavor I notice and don’t often see is greengage plums…not sure if this is due to the soil or vine selection or both but I like it.
This was picked at 22 brix and a TA (total acidity) of 9 grams/liter, a pretty danged high TA. Because of the acidity (3.15pH in the bottle), it took 1.25 years to get through ML…an annoyingly long time to be without sulfur (adding sulfur would end any chance of completing ML).
During this period, one barrel kept suggesting I try Sous Voile…I’d say no and clean it up each time I topped up. After having a Ganevat with a friend, and a bottle of Jim Cowan’s sous voile Fiano (and after advice from Jim), I finally decided it was a good thing (and could be done in a subtle way) so I let the barrel have its way…which lead to my Cuvee Voile Chardonnay. I’m bottling my second Cuvee Voile Chardonnay when I bottle my 2017’s this Friday, now that I’ve figured out what sous voile wants to get started (in a chard happy way).
Glad to hear this! I really enjoyed the 2014 iteration . . .
2014 Ladd Cellars Chardonnay Cuvée Voile- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (6/3/2017)
Very enjoyable Chardonnay. Crisp, tropical fruit, peach, honeydew, minimal oak and butter to clog things up. Well done. (93 pts.)
I drank this with Eric as we were grinding through the whites at Falltacular together, he’s a great copilot. When he said “20% new oak”. I said “seriously?”
Great reply, “yeah, I don’t know where it went…”
“Love this wine. Really strong mineral as the basis for strong citrus flavors. Lemon, lime, and pineapple. Supposedly there was 20% new oak but it’s nowhere to be seen. Clean, lean, and mean the way I like my chardonnay.”
If someone says they’re using 1/3 new oak, it generally means that they’re replacing their 1/3 oldest barrels with new barrels. If you’re a ‘medium’ or larger producer making the same wines ever year, it’s a simple way of spending less time ordering oak and getting back to the vines, which is always a better place to spend your time.
I don’t do that. I use a simple average of my oak which, for me, is far simpler. For example, the above 1/3 new oak example (i.e. new, once used & twice used barrels) would be 56.6% new oak (the average of 100% new + 50% new + 20% new = 56.6%). Yeah 1/3 new = 56.6% new. So, when I say I’m using 20% new, some people would say I’m using 11.1% new (ok, they wouldn’t say that, they’d round down and say 10% new).
Frankly, I’m shocked that ‘Oak Math’ wasn’t addressed and standardised when the EU was formed!
Anyways, oak at this low level usage has more impact on the texture of the wine than the flavors…and even then it’s a nuance. That’s what I want to do with my wines, is add nuances rather than overpowering elements.
Drinking another bottle of this tonight, and it’s as if someone took Pepiere Muscadet Clisson, chiseled down the edges and added some sort of savory potion. It’s got my palate in a knot right now, but in a good way.
You’re drinking the 2014 Cuvee Voile (a separate wine from the 14 Sonoma coast Chard, of course)? Cool. That’s my favorite Chard that I’ve made, savory and a cool texture is a good description. My 17 and 18 Voile (and 2019 Cuvee Voile Chardonnay, that I’m bottling in May) seem to be headed in the same direction, but the 2014 seems to be closer to that destination. They’re all their own separate wines tho, as they should be.
Thanks Andrew! Actually, I do have a few cases. It’s $49/bottle and no shipping charge if it’s shipped with a BD (or other) order. If you (or anyone else) is interested, PM me. Woo Hoo.
A note on the 14 vs 17 Voile: Both are excellent for similar reasons (savory for example), but they’re fairly different, partly because of the age difference (better with age), and partly due to vintage differences, and partly because that’s what they are. Because of this they’re both my fav/top chards.
Also, tho the sous voile (french for ‘under a veil’, referring to the film yeast, is the same that’s used in the Jura, esp Ganevat, who’s wines I love, my voile chardonnays are made to keep the voile character in the background. The goal is to use the sous voile to highlight the character of the vines, farming and vineyard.