The fruit is forward and marries beautifully with the new French oak barriques, which imparts a wonderful vanilla flavor to the wine. It has wonderful balance and length of flavors, including apple and peach, with the creamy aftertones of oak. a wine with superb direction and character.
Located at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains in the far Northwest corner of the Rutherford appellation, Napa Valley stalwart, Flora Springs received a notable mention by James Laube in his book on great California Chardonnays This moderately-oaked bottling celebrates the natural tropical fruit flavors in the fruit sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in three locales: Oakville, Carneros, and St. Helena. Balanced by a bright acidity, this soon-to-be summer favorite lacks only your choice of suitably succulent fare to achieve completion.
| Review |
| The Wine Enthusiast had this to say about the 2000 Flora Springs Barrel Fermented Chardonnay Reserve: "Flora Springs leaped to the top with this wine back in the 1980’s, and it’s still one of Napa’s best, at a decent price. It’s super-lush, just packed with apple, peach and tangerine fruit and an overlay of smoky oak. The lush, creamy mouthfeel is highlighted by nice, crisp, acidity.” 92 points |
| Technical notes |
| Vineyard Location Crossroads
Appellation Carneros
Oakville
St. Helena
Varietal Content 100% Chardonnay
Barrel Aging 7 months
Release Date Fall 2002
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| Producer |
| Founded in 1978 in the heart of Napa Valley, Flora Springs has been a family affair for more than three decades, developing an admirable record for producing high quality, region-specific wines. Now in their third generation of stewardship, the Komes and Garvey families own 650 acres of vineyards throughout five appellations in the Napa Valley – Carneros, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Pope Valley enabling them to maintain quality with estate grown, hand picked fruit. They select 20% of the finest fruit from each vintage for their own wines and sell the remaining 80% to neighboring wineries. From the beginning, as artisan farmers and winemakers, the family has employed sustainable vineyard practices. More recently they’ve converted 40% of their estate vineyards, which account for 90% of their red wines, to certified organic farming.
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