JL WOOD, a family-owned winery is releasing the 2021 Arroyo Seco Nouveau Chardonnay on April 27 2022. Nouveau is a different and exciting take on Chardonnay— a unique, bold style with a remarkable full flavor profile, lively acidity and zero sugar. The wine evolves further as it warms in the glass.
In evaluation sessions tasters have found this wine to be a standout. Frequently mistaken for a white blend it uniformly was rated as "very" or "highly" desirable.
15,000 bottles of the nouveau will be available through finer restaurants, specialty wine stores, upscale supermarkets, and online at jlwoodwine.com.
The grapes come from a JL Wood owned vineyard in the "cone" of the Arroyo Seco AVA (Monterey County). The district is known for slow-maturing Chardonnay grapes with intense tropical fruit esters and lively acid resulting from warm summer days and ocean breeze-cooled nights.
Paul Morrison, JL WOOD Managing Director, tells how the Nouveau Chardonnay came into being:
"Our mission is to bring new and luxurious experiences to the millennial wine drinker. Our winemaker, Edward Filice, suggested we try to elevate Chardonnay into something with a far greater wow factor. We thought it would be good fit for the younger wine lovers we want to reach.
"The grapes tell us how to maximize their potential. When I did one of my harvest-time walks through the vineyards, I tasted some grapes with a much more intense flavor profile than usual and I knew that we might have the raw material for something different. We harvested them that night."
The nouveau Chardonnay was made by JL WOOD in Oakville, California. After initial fermentation the wine was elevated using simple artisanal techniques and light filtration. Early bottling was used to capture the intense flavors. The wine is a luxury experience at just 125 calories per 5-ounce glass.
It was important to make the Nouveau Chardonnay as sustainable as possible. Both the source vineyard and winery hold sustainable certifications.
Paul continues:
"We work to maximize our customer's experience and operate in a responsible manner.
"We minimize tractor runs in our vineyards, use advanced internet-based sensors to monitor our vineyards, and plant cover crops between the vines to reduce carbon in the atmosphere, encourage beneficial insects, and improve our soils.
"Also, using a heavy wine bottle comes with a big carbon footprint. The bottles we use for the Nouveau are as much as 35% lighter than usual."
These seemingly small things make a major difference in the impact on our planet.
JL WOOD will release three additional 2021 wines from its properties in June: an unoaked and a lightly oaked Chardonnay, both very high quality. A release of a premium reduced calorie Chardonnay, at 9% alcohol by volume, will be released at the same time and be available on JLWOODWINE.COM. All wines will have our trademark smoothness with a lively acidity.
JL WOOD is small and family-owned. The company is in business to bring its own wines as well as regional signature wines to market at great prices, observing production practices that are as good for the drinker as they are sustainable.
Please visit us at jlwoodwine.com for special offers and our blog, Inside Modern Wine, which offers deeper insights into the qualities and production methods of the wines we offer.