The Linda Vista Vineyard is adjacent to Matthiasson’s home property in Napa Valley, along the western fringe of the Oak Knoll District. Steve Matthiasson has leased the site since 2011 and farms its loamy, alluvial soils himself. He treats this Chardonnay fruit to a neutral barrel fermentation, and, aiming for freshness, allowed only half of it to go through malolactic.
The wine is brilliant yellow with a fragrance that’s tropical and lush, with a whiff of pine and laurel adding dimension to a rich perfume of baked pineapple, dried apricots, and ripe yellow apple skin. Silken and savory and a little bit leesy on the palate, its flavors are tinged with caramel. But this ripeness reads like fruit, not barrel, and prismatic acidity keeps it light.
12.8% abv (sample)
Tasted at the winery on 14 June 2016.
Drank the 2013 version last night, and it was remarkably similar to the ’14, if perhaps showing a fresher fruit profile than in your sample. I got more underripe pineapple rather than a concentrated, baked flavor. Totally with you on the savory element, and it’s what keeps me going back for more of this bottling.