Ladd Cellars Berserker Day 14 Offer!
I make Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from West Sonoma Coast, Sebastopol and the deep end of the Anderson Valley. I also make Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo and Zinfandel from higher elevation Sierra Foothills. For each, I choose vineyards with interesting/complex soils, old vines (20+ year old)…picked early for interesting, complex & nuanced wines.
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, about to make new little grapes!
The Mixed Chardonnay 3 pack
One bottle each:
2016, 2017 & 2020 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
A great trio. From a Sonoma Coast vineyard with 40 year old vines and sedimentary soil (Burgundy as well), my strong preference for a top quality chardonnay.
Oak: The 2016 has 15% new oak (a mix of second and third use and neutral barrels actually), all well integrated at this point. The 2017 has 10%, also well integrated. The 2020 got all neutral barrels. All are low 13% alc or lower.
The character of my various Chardonnay can be described as a variation of: Citrus and lemon rind, white stone fruit, yellow apples, minerality and saline character, no tropical fruit (with sufficient air and/or cellar time for certain wines), excellent all natural acidity, and little or no oak (2018 was the first entirely neutral oak barrels, prior to that 5-15% oak was typical)
Links to CellarTracker notes for the 2016 and 2017 are below. Despite being a challenging vintage, the 2020 is the most Burgundian of the three, having been called as a Chassagne or Meursault in several blind tastings with ITB/Somm folks with excellent palates.
These really benefit from air time prior to consuming and the time in the bottle! I expect all my Chardonnays to be 20+ year wines (my reds too), tho they’re drinking well now (esp with air). This is due to a terrific/low pH (around 3.3pH is typical).
CellarTracker links: 2016, 2017
The Classics Chardonnay 3 pack
One bottle each:
2017 Cuvee Voile Chardonnay
2018 Cuvee Voile Chardonnay
2018 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
Offering two different Voile Chardonnays is a first! The Voile Chards are from two old vine vineyards that are far away from each other, yet are kissing cousins in character (the Sonoma Coast above, plus another NorCal vineyard with the same soil/ripening/position characteristics). Blending made the better wine, but required a California designation. I’ll go for the better wine over the better label every time.
There are notes on the17 Voile and 18 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay below. The 18 Voile has a lot of similarities to Comte Lafon, and Boisson Vadot to a lesser degree, a comment I’ve gotten before on others of my Chardonnay.
The voile character is extremely subtle, and is used to reveal more of the vineyard character (geeky: in addition to ethanol, fermentation produces glycerol, an alcohol that’s one step away from being a sugar, and gives the wine a sweet-ish character…the Voile consumes some/much of the glycerol, allowing more of the vineyard character to show through).
CellarTracker links: 2017 Voile, 2018 SC
An update on the 2019 Voile Chardonnay, from last year:
This went into a reductive phase this year, giving it a bit, or more than a bit, of a funky character. This does seem to be the curse of high end Chardonnay (Boisson Vadot went through a horrible period with this and all of them seem to have emerged victorious). A substantial, and currently impractical, amount of air will return it to its original and beautiful form, but the better approach is to put in storage for a long dirt nap (a good thing for wine, bad for people!). Enjoy the 2017 and 2018s in the meantime. And if you opened a bottle that was angry, let me know and I’ll fix you up.
The 2020 Plus Chardonnay 3 pack
Two bottles of:
2020 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
One bottle of:
2015 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
Two excellent vintages of Sonoma Coast Chardonnay…See above for more details on the 2020. The 20 Chardonnay has no new oak, the 2015 has 15% new.
CellarTracker links: 2015
Anderson Valley Pinot Noir in the middle of being picked!
The Mixed Pinot 3 pack
One bottle each:
2015 Cuvee Abigail, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
2014 Pratt Vineyard, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
2013 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
This group leans slightly to a new world style.
I got into wine in a serious way in the 90’s drinking ‘Burt’ wines and other similar, prior to the big run up of alcohol and ripeness in the 2000s and on. It’s one of my winemaking targets (the other being old world). These wines all all have characteristics of those great wines.
The 15 Cuvee Abigail is extremely well balanced, dark red fruit and an amazing array of savory elements that open up and morph over the evening.
A quintessential Sonoma Coast Pinot, Pratt vineyard has an excellent position & soil near the coast, with an excellent and interesting selection of clones (including the ‘jackson’ clone that UC Davis discovered up in the foothills, near my Zin vineyard!).
CellarTracker links: 2013 RRV
The Classics Pinot 3 pack
One bottle each:
2008 Cuvee Abigail, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
2013 Cuvee Abigail, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
2012 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
This group leans towards an old world style.
A great lineup of wine, and a great chance to compare the character/quality of Abigails over time! Both Abigails are entirely neutral oak, and the RRV is 10% new.
CellarTracker links: 2008 Cuvee Abigail, 2013 Cuvee Abigail, 2012 RRV
Foothills Cabernet Franc about to be picked! No photoshop on those amazing leaves btw
The Mixed Foothills Adventure 3 Pack
One bottle each:
2019 Giesler Baron Vineyard Sierra Foothills Cabernet Franc
2017 Alney Sierra Foothills Tempranillo
2016 Avio Sierra Foothills Zinfandel
This group leans a bit to an old world style…the Zin less than the others, but even then.
The are a cross between a Napa and an Old World style, in an appealing and deep way. The 17s are more dark fruited, and the 19s are more red fruited. Showing well now, but they’re still evolving and benefit from some air time.
Note that it’s my 2015 Zin that folks here have seen (still a young wine!). The 2016 is a bit more ripe than the 15, enough to give it a dark red fruit character (as opposed to the bright red-ish fruit of the 15), along with an appealing mix of savory notes.
CellarTracker links: 2019 Cab Franc, 2017 Tempranillo
Shipping:
Shipping is a flat rate, depending on the state: $4 in Ca, $6 in West Coast States and $8 for the rest of the country.
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Thanks for your interest!
