Name: Thomas Fogarty Chardonnay la Vida Bella Vineyard 2021 750ml
Brand: Thomas Fogarty
SKU: 1027493
Price: 22.5 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 93.5 (2 reviews)

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Winery

Thomas Fogarty

Shop all from Thomas Fogarty

Varietal

Chardonnay

Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one that has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is Chardonnay. This green-skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity, which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.

Country

United States

Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.

Region

California

California as a wine producing region has grown in size and importance considerably over the past couple of centuries, and today is the proud producer of more than ninety percent of the United States' wines. Indeed, if California was a country, it would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world, with a vast range of vineyards covering almost half a million acres. The secret to California's success as a wine region has a lot to do with the high quality of its soils, and the fact that it has an extensive Pacific coastline which perfectly tempers the blazing sunshine it experiences all year round. The winds coming off the ocean cool the vines, and the natural valleys and mountainsides which make up most of the state's wine regions make for ideal areas in which to cultivate a variety of high quality grapes.

Appellation

Santa Cruz County

VM 94pts

Vinous Media

The 2021 Chardonnay La Vida Bella Vineyard is a potent, savory wine. Strong herbal and earthy tones are front and center while fruit is pushed more into the background. Layered and beautifully persistent, the Vida Bella Chardonnay will come alive at the dinner table.

WA 93pts

Wine Advocate

The 2021 Chardonnay La Vida Bella Vineyard is Thomas Fogarty's expression of the Corralitos region from a site planted in 2000 at 550 feet in elevation just 4.5 miles from the Pacific. A clean, fresh nose of white flowers, citrus blossoms and sea spray introduces an electric, live-wire palate with bracing acidity and crunchy, pronounced salinity. Long and bright on the finish, this wine is decidedly for lovers of acid-forward Chardonnay and should drink beautifully over the next 10 years.