MALDONADO WINES
2006 Napa Valley Los Olivos Chardonnay-566 Cases
The 2006 vintage produced exceptionally rich, ripe fruit. This was in part because of the very dry growing conditions early in the year that promoted small berry size, and in part because the long, cool harvest season allowed us to delay harvesting the majority of the fruit until late in October. As always, we harvested in several lots from different sections of the vineyard; in this season, the harvest stretched over a 6 week period. All of the wine was fermented in barrel, about 25% new. The wine is very rich just as the fruit was; our richest, ripest wine since 2003. The wine nonetheless has excellent acidity and very clear, strong minerality. The greatest strength of the wine is in the finish built on the twin foundations of acid and minerality. These two balance the tremendous richness of the wine and make it very serious, if not severe. The nose is lemon meringue pie and toasted hazelnuts, backed up by the stony minerality sensible on the palate. The wine is mouthfilling with very ripe peaches, apricots, baked apple, and candied lemon peel. This richness eventually fades and reveals the acid spine and minerality of the finish.
2006 Napa Valley Los Olivos Reserve Chardonnay-86 Cases
This wine is a darker and more intense version of the first bottling. It was composed of 3 barrels from 3 different sections of the vineyard. The biggest difference in the winemaking between the two blends is the following: in September 2007 we tasted through all of the barrels of blend-- at this point, none of them had been topped or sulfured. We found 6 barrels that were potentially reserve quality and put them aside. The remaining barrels we racked, sulfured; and then put the wine back to full barrels to limit oxidation. The reserve barrels we left completely undisturbed and untopped until May 2008 when we reviewed the barrels and selected the 3 best of the 6. We were looking for even more intensity than the regular bottling, more minerality, and fruit flavors that had matured into more secondary qualities. This wine has a rich nuttiness and serrano-ham salinity savoriness, both in the nose and mouth. There is a broad, gravelly minerality in the palate, underlying very rich nut and truffle flavors. The wine is rich and powerful and stern at the same time
2006 Napa Valley Los Olivos Syrah-73 Cases
On the palate: fresh entrance evolving on velvety tannins with an exponential evolution and great integration of dark fruits like black cherry and blueberry with dark chocolate and violet lingering on grenadine syrup On the nose: beautiful interaction of wood and fruit with blueberry jam and black pepper with English candy, cassis, blackberry and vanilla balanced with truffle
2006 Sonoma County Parr Vineyard Chardonnay-911 Cases
On the palate: soft entrance evolving to a beautiful balance between roundness and freshness with white chocolate, pear, oranges and white peaches lingering on tangerines, Meyer lemon and butterscotch On the nose: grapefruit, dried apricot and pineapple balanced with roasted walnuts, nutmeg and granite with hints of honey and quince
2006 Napa Valley Peter Newton Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon-126 Cases
On the palate: velvety entrance with a fruit jam explosion with cassis, blackberry and black cherry with touches of spices like oregano and rosemary evolving on ripened tannins with a hint of chocolate cherry liquor. On the nose: spices like green pepper and cinnamon, pine wood, cassis, clay and blackberries with touches of flowers like roses, musk and cypress