2013 Calera Chardonnay

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$23 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

The essential, unforgiving element of the wine business is risk, and Calera owner Josh Jensen faces it eye to eye every day because his winery on Mt. Harlan in San Benito County is constructed a scant 100 yards from the San Andreas fault.  Kinda makes drought and the glassy winged sharpshooter look like minor distractions.

Jensen is a California winemaking pioneer; he planted his first vineyard in 1975, 24 acres of pinot noir.  Today he has vineyards established all over the limestone mountain, some as high as 2,200 feet.  He made his first 1,000 cases of wine that year from purchased zinfandel fruit.  The operation has been a work in progress, with a gravity-winery built about 1,000 feet below the vineyards.

Winemaker for Calera is Hollister native Mike Waller who grew up about ten miles from the winery.  He studied enology at Davis and worked at Saintsbury, Beringer and Chalone before joining Calera in 2007.

Winery Tasting Notes:  “Beautiful ripe peach, star fruit and pink rose notes waft from this smooth and flavorful 2013 Central Coast Chardonnay. Flavors of tropical fruits, honey crisp apple, nectarine, honeydew melon and hints of sweet oak accent the soft, velvety texture and continue through a delicious, lingering round, bright finish.”

Blend:  100% Chardonnay

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