Ondine Chattan Barrel Select Petaluma Gap Pinot Noir 2018
What the critics think
Bronze Winner
Sunset International Wine Competition 2021
What the critics think
Bronze Winner
Sunset International Wine Competition 2021
About the wine
Elegant, barrel-aged Sonoma Pinot Noir - an exclusive limited release from Ondine
- This special-edition, award-winning Pinot Noir is a rare one-off from your star of Sonoma, Ondine Chattan, elegantly layered with red fruit flavors from raspberry to cherry, with a rustic character and a trace of toasty barrel-aged spice.
- With the help of your funding, Ondine selected this Pinot from Sonoma’s newest subregion, Petaluma Gap, where morning layers of fog help high-quality Pinot ripen slowly and evenly to develop an intricate cast of flavors.
- Aged for 20 months in special French oak barrels straight from Burgundy (France’s Pinot Noir capital) for a generous extra touch of complexity, Ondine’s limited-edition Barrel Select Pinot is your chance to try a world-class, one-time red with a $31 Angel exclusive savings!
Best before
As this one has had the benefit of extended cellaring it will drink nicely upon release, but as Pinot Noir can be a little finicky I do recommend allowing it to rest for a week or two after shipment just in case the jostling from shipping shocks it a bit. Drinking in the near term will reveal more of the fruit and further cellaring will serve to bring the herb, mineral and earth notes to the fore, moving the flavor profile from brightly fruit-driven to the fruit being somewhat eclipsed by an earthier character.
Serving advice
Pinot Noir is an earth-driven variety and can be a bit 'closed' when the cork is first pulled. I recommend opening 20-30 minutes before serving or pouring with a bit of a splash into a large bowl (Burgundy) glass to get some air into the wine and 'open-up' the wine to reveal the fruit. A little swirling helps this as well but the wine should not be vigorously aerated (avoid a Vinturi) as doing so may oxidize the fruit. The lean crisp character present in this one will make it well-suited to aging, so if you are inclined to squirrel away a bottle or two for a few years of cellaring it should develop a complex set of deeper fruit flavors.
Food match
To honor the purity of flavor and mineral notes in this wine I choose a simple, lightly-seared Ahi steak with cracked peppercorns as the perfect pairing. Another delightful union is a bowl of fleshy Ascolano olives, and a fluffy gougere (light as air gruyere cheese puff) or a crusty baguette with charcuterie. For those who prefer a somewhat heavier meal, pomegranate & herb glazed pork tenderloin would do nicely.
Contains sulphites
Always check the label
USA
Petaluma Gap
Pinot noir
Smooth Red
14.1% ABV
750ml
Wine profile
Meet the winemaker - Ondine Chattan
Unmistakably one of the North Coast’s top winemaking talents, Ondine Chattan’s worked for wine institutions – famed wineries like Ridge Vineyards, Cline Cellars, and spent decades running famed Healdsburg winery Geyser Peak.
Does Geyser Peak sound familiar? It should – it’s the long-time winemaking home of one legendary Daryl Groom – and it’s where these decades-long colleagues and friends met. They’re still close… in fact, they might collaborate on exclusive wines now and again.*wink.*
Ondine is awestruck by the wine community Angels have built – and she wants to help it grow. “I truly connect to people through the wines I make,” she said. “The stories of the growers, the vineyards, and the process behind the wine are as vital to me as grapes.”
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