Gallo Family - William Hill Napa Vally Bench Blend Chardonnay

It always interesting when you taste to wines from the same year from the same winemaker and they are remarkably different.

That's what I found when I tasted the 2009 William Hill Napa Valley Bench Blend Chardonnay. Striking differences from the 09 Napa Valley Chardonnay.  This Chardonnay was much lighter in structure but tighter wound.  It needed to open up and relax some.

The grapes used in the wine were hand harvested and pressed as whole clusters.  Grape solids were left in the fermenting juice to add complexity and style to the wine.  The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel which enriched the mouth feel and added complexity to the finished product..  The Chardonnay was 100% barrel aged in 55% new French oak.  The wine was bottle aged 6 months prior to its release.

The wine had some nice aromas of peach, tropical fruit and finishing with melon.  The palate was soft and lush with hints of stone fruit and some nice notes of tasted oak and vanilla.

The wine retails for $35.

All in the Gallo Family - William Hill Napa Valley Chardonnay

Continuing with my Gallo tasting we move to the William Hill Estate Winery, 2009 Napa Valley Chardonnay. If you do not like a heavy, oaky, buttery Chardonnay this is not the wine for you.

The Chardonnay grapes were pressed as whole clusters.  After settling overnight they were racked, inoculated and fermented in new and used oak barrels and all the wine underwent malolactic fermentation.  Some of the wine was racked off the lees after primary fermentation, others were allowed to sit on the lees during aging.  The final blending, blended the two lots.

This wine had quite a body to it.  On the nose I got some toasty oak and a hint of spice with some butter.  The palate lends itself to some tree fruit flavors and a long finish with hints of melted butter. The oak was well balanced.  It does have a hint of sweetness to it with .67 g/100ml of residual sugar to balance out the acidity.

This would be a great wine to pair with lobster tails!  This wine retails for $25