I polished off the rest of the bottle I started yesterday of a 2018 Beringer Napa Valley Chardonnay. I was tempted to postpone today’s post to tomorrow because I enjoyed this wonderful wine while watching Wagner’s Dream, a documentary on the Ring cycle production at the Metropolitan Opera. I wanted to write about this documentary but then decided that it was best to save this post for the following day as I always have a lot to say about Wagner. So let me continue telling you about my companion during this documentary.

This chardonnay from Napa Valley has a wonderful creamy taste to it (almost buttery) and is accompanied by hints of delicate fruit flavors like peach and apple. I was surprised by the relative lack of oaky flavor which I’ve found typical of American chardonnays. In my research of this wine, I discovered that this wine is mostly fermented in French oak barrels, which explains the lessened oak taste. French oak is less porous than American oak and therefore will impart less of its flavor into the wine. The vineyards for Beringer’s chardonnay are in southern Napa Valley where a longer maturation period is possible thanks to the cooling fog that rolls northward during most afternoons during the growing season. According to their website, this 2018 vintage enjoyed a “near-perfect season” with abundant February rains and drying sun that resulted in even flowering and bud break.

I was very pleased with this wine and will probably purchase it again for one of the upcoming Hollywood Bowl concerts this summer.