Wine Wednesday: Clos Du Val 2011 Chardonnay Carneros Estate Napa Valley

Happy Winesday! This week's featured wine is another Napa chardonnay. As mentioned last week, we honeymooned there this past October and we visited Clos du Val on the last day of our trip. Most of our trip was weekdays and our trip to Clos du Val fell on a Saturday. The two words that somewhat soured the experience are Party and Bus. I know it would have been more enjoyable had we scheduled a tasting on a weekday, since it would have been less crowded. We may go back next time we're there.

Raging partiers aside, the wines are pretty legit. Personally, I liked all of their reds best when we were at the tasting, but this wine is offered in our local shop and it brings me back to happy memories of our trip (even if the actual CdV memory was a little rowdy).

I'm in the mood for this wine about 50% of the time. I typically go for chards that are oaky, creamy, and leaning toward stone fruit (apricot, peach, etc.). This bottle is really tropical - think mango, pineapple, really bright fruit flavors. I do enjoy it, but at $16+ a bottle, it's mainly a Weekend Wine and depends on the food we're cooking. I'll pair this with a meal that veers toward the spicy side to balance out the sunny fruit flavors.

Cheers!