2022 Wood Family Vineyards Chardonnay – Liquid Gold!
The Winery
Pictures from Wood Family Vineyards website
Wood Family Vineyards, located in eastern Livermore Valley with Rhonda Wood owner & winemaker, has been producing award winning wines for over two decades. You can read more on her background from airline pilot to award winning winemaker at:
https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2016/02/10/wood-family-vineyards-2
Recently at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (largest in North America), Wood Family Vineyards won the following awards and not all are listed:
2019 Cabernet Franc – Double Gold
2021 Malbec – Double Gold
2019 Cabernet Sauvignon “Clone 30” – Double Gold
2021 El Loco Rojo Red Blend – Double Gold
2021 The Captain Red Blend – Double Gold
2022 Chardonnay – Gold
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
First off, my apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson:
“In the glass, the juice glistens of golden perfection,
A sculptured artwork displaying the winemakers’ vineyard reflection
Of quality, detailed preciseness and caressing hands.
Aromas abound from the origins of the vineyard of dreams
Conjoined with the bountiful fruits of the vine, apple & pear flavors
With an undercurrent of almonds, light citrus and encased in a brioche wafer.
The finish of exquisiteness frames the sip and beckons again to the taster.
But enough, as it is time to partake and enjoy this invigorating elixir”.
-ode to Rhonda Wood’s Chardonnay by Michael Kelly
It is a great wine with pears and brioche with a medium heavy viscosity. Coming in at 14.1% alcohol and is priced at $34/bottle on their website.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Paired with a BBQ seared pepper encrusted Ahi tuna on the outside and raw in the inside. Drizzled with lemon juice, served topped with Mandarin oranges and green onions. Ingredients included olive oil, sea salt, ground pepper, peppercorns and garlic salt. Accompanied by a fresh garden salad (not shown). An excellent food and wine pairing. This wine was already noted to be in my best wines tasted in 2024.
Sláinte,
Michael
https://californiawinesandwineries.comhttps://woodfamilyvineyards.com