All wines
Tasting Notes(1)
3.8
Stone fruits and citrus, creamy and very soft. The acidity holds up against the texture, with chalk and a measured oak shading keeping things in balance. Very nice stuff.
About
Petaluma's mid-tier Chardonnay, drawing on Adelaide Hills fruit - the broader region rather than the narrower Piccadilly Valley reserved for the Yellow Label and Tiers. Picked in March 2017, fermented across French oak barriques, hogsheads, and stainless steel (roughly 50/50 oak to stainless, with ~10% new oak), then partial malolactic to retain acidity. The producer's stated style: stone fruits and citrus, creamy texture, soft acid - 'a delicate yet rich modern Chardonnay.'
The 2017 Adelaide Hills vintage was cool, late, and wet - harvest came 4-6 weeks later than 2016. The cool finish kept acidity bright; well-made wines from the year tended toward elegance and balance over weight.
White Label sits in the middle of Petaluma's still hierarchy: above the entry-level Lumos, below the Yellow Label (Piccadilly Valley, full barrel ferment) and the single-vineyard Tiers.