2014 Peter Michael “La Carrière” Chardonnay – Always Exquisite
The Winery
Photo ©Michael Kelly
From their website: ‘La Carrière’, French for “The Quarry”, reflects the vineyard’s spoon shape and tremendously rocky soils. Situated between 1,200 and 1,700 feet (366 and 518 meters) above sea level on steep mountain slopes exceeding 40 percent in grade, the vineyard has ideal southern and southeastern exposures. The shallow, rocky soils provide excellent drainage with restricted fertility, resulting in lower fruit yields with profound richness and character. ‘La Carrière’ provides a signature complexity and liquid minerality from its mountainous origin”.
The winery produces other top rated wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon blends, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.
The history of Sir Michael David is a great read on their website.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The 2014 Peter Michael La Carrière Chardonnay is a wine that can be aged similar to many top shelf French Chardonnays. The deep and rich golden color was striking along with its minerality (La Carrière translated mean the quarry), almond, jasmine, lemon and pear notes. The intense creaminess was the hallmark of this wine coupled with a heavy viscosity. The finish provided jasmine and pear with a touch of butterscotch. Robert Parker gave this wine 96 points. Currently on line it is running around $130/bottle. It should be noted that this is one of the few American Chardonnay’s that is age worthy. I generally drink them 8-11 years after the vintage date.
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
The Friday Night Wine & Dine Group met last evening to enjoy some good food, wine and laughs! Ordered the Mahi Mahi blackened with sautéed fresh summer squash and vegetables. Besides the fish being excellent, the risotto was light and extremely tasty.
The Chardonnay was great cooling down the spiciness of the blackened spices. A beautiful and delicious food and wine pairing for the evening. Peter Michael consistently makes my Best Wines tasted during every year.
We also enjoyed some other delicious wines this evening from Sonoma County, Calaveras County, Paso Robles and Napa Valley.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Sláinte,
Michael