Review: 2012 Sonoma-Cutrer Late Harvest Chardonnay Winemaker’s Release

Review: 2012 Sonoma-Cutrer Late Harvest Chardonnay Winemaker’s Release

sonoma-cutrer late harvest chardonnaySonoma-Cutrer produces some of the best-selling white wines from California, and now this winery on the rise is expanding into an interesting new area: Dessert wines.

Its first release in a new range of limited-edition wines called the Winemaker’s Release Series is this, a sweet, late harvest Chardonnay. (Few dessert wines are made from Chardonnay — Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc are more common, particularly in California.)

Some thoughts follow.

A lovely “sticky,” with pretty floral, orange, and honey notes, all in perfect balance — with plenty of acidity left behind to keep the sweetness from overpowering the wine. Made very much in the Sauternes style, I never would have pegged this as Chardonnay had I not seen the label firsthand. Infinitely drinkable, it was a huge hit with the crowd for which I popped the half-bottle open. Snap it up!

10% abv.

A / $30 (375ml) / sonomacutrer.com

2012 Sonoma-Cutrer Late Harvest Chardonnay Winemaker's Release

$30
9.5

Rating

9.5/10

Christopher Null is the founder and editor in chief of Drinkhacker. A veteran writer and journalist, he also operates Null Media, a bespoke content creation company.

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