Mer Soleil 2005
This marks the 13th vintage for Mer Solei Chardonnay, and captures the best of what Monterey County's coastal wine country offers each year.
The grapes came from our Mer Solei vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands, a property we began cultivating in 1988. Using multiple clones of Chardonnay, the vines are trained on three different trellis systems to enhance ripening, thinning and shading conditions.
Spring's late arrival and temperatures that spiked with several heat waves during the growing season gave the vines incredibly generous yields in 2005. Once the grapes reached the golden caramel, almost amber color we look for, harvest began, starting September 26 and continuing until November 19.
Lots were aged separately in French oak barrels; about 40 percent new oak. The wine was then crafted in the cellar until it was ready for bottling, producing the fully-ripened, sea-and-sun brilliance Mer Solei is known for.
Charlie Wagner II is a fourth-generation winemaker from a family with farming and winemaking roots in the Napa Valley since 1906. His first Mer Soleil bottling was produced from the 1997 vintage, and introduced the winemaking techniques he developed to create this unique, appealing Chardonnay style.
Tasting Notes - Mer Soleil 2005
The wine opens with tropical fruit and honeysuckle aromas. Luxurious flavors of crème bruleé and even a hint of butter are framed by notesof fine oak and the lively acidity of citrus zest. The mouth-feel is full and lush and brings all the wine's elements through to a long, persistent finish.
Charlie Wagner II
Release date: May 2007
Reviews:
Quarterly Review of Wines, Spring 2008 (Best of the Best California Chardonnay). Rated: Five stars “Rich, ripe, succulent, never-say-die, tropical fruit flavors.”
Natalia Maclean, natdecants.com, April 12, 2008. Rated: 90 points, &ldquot;Favourite White Wine” “Winemaker Charlie Wagner has created a voluptuous chard with aromas of ripe pears, peaches and honey. Warm notes of oak. Full-bodied.”
California Grapevine, August-September 2007. Rated: Very Highly Recommended, “Attractive, forward, stylish, buttery, appely; ripe tropical fruit aroma with hints of honeysuckle and butterscotch…full, rounded mouth-feel; lingering aftertaste.”