Smokescreen Chardonnay 2020
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The 2020 is a racy Chardonnay that has a super fragrant nose with tropical fruits, pears and peach. It is a full-bodied wine that has tropical fruits, gooseberry, pear, honeysuckle and wet stone on the palate with great minerality leading to a long, satisfying finish.
After years of making high end single vineyard wines from the Napa Valley, the recession of 2008 came and with it all the uncertainty of the banks and stock market. It was after returning from a trip to the east coast where winemaker Paul Johnson was repeatedly told by retailers that he could not sell anything over $30, he realized that people were no longer buying high end Napa wines.
After deciding they needed to do something different, the Smokescreen brand was started to offer great value wines. Not wanting to compromise on quality, they set out to redefine the quality of wine people associate with a daily drinking wine and offer them at a price that most can afford.
Since starting Smokescreen, they have worked diligently to make wines that over-deliver for the price. The wines will appeal to both people new to wine and the more sophisticated wine drinker. The grapes are sourced from acclaimed vineyards in prominent appellations such as Napa Valley, Russian River, Alexander Valley and Paso Robles.
Smokescreen wines are handcrafted using techniques that are usually reserved for more expensive wines such as barrel fermenting and whole cluster fermentation and will amaze the most discriminating palate. At Smokescreen, they want you to genuinely enjoy the wines you are drinking without compromising quality or value, whether you are having a pizza on a Tuesday night or entertaining friends on the weekend.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
An off the beaten path wine country destination, Suisun Valley is just east of Napa Valley in the California Coast Ranges. The valley boasts plentiful agricultural products as well as wine.