Sonoma Coast
$20 (Wine Club Reorder Price: $18)
Foggy Bottom Chardonnay is produced by Easkoot Cellars, a very small boutique wine producer with roots in Marin and Sonoma. Easkoot took their name from a sailor who made his final landfall in Marin County and later became the surveyor to first stake out the winery’s vineyards. Easkoot selected uniquely cool and foggy sites for their vineyards, which gives unique character to the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir produced under the Easkoot and Foggy Bottom labels.
The 2018 Foggy Bottom Chardonnay is “sourced from the Sonoma Coast where grapes grown in Goldridge sandy loam soil are cooled by nearby Pacific breezes and evening fog. Whole cluster pressed, with blocked fermentation and only 10% new oak. The result is a fresh, crisp foggy-styled Chardonnay. While this delicious wine does provide just a hint of buttery popcorn notes, it is not by any stretch of the imagination a wooden “mallet to the palate”, and these flavors integrate well with its fresh, floral, tropical fruit notes and truly lovely acidity.”
Chardonnay – perhaps more so than many other wine varieties – often evokes love-it-or-hate-it feelings in wine drinkers. People often love specific styles, either oaky and buttery, or unoaked and crisp, but it seems rarely something in between. We find the Foggy Bottom to be one of those more middle-of-the-road examples, with just hints of oak and butter, but not completely devoid of either. Likewise, it’s not overpowering with those traditional big California Chardonnay characteristics, so this wine can be a real crowd-pleaser with a little something for everyone.
You may smell and taste apples, pears, and citrus and perhaps a bit of minerality, like the smell of wet rocks or gravel in this wine. You could even pick up some other non-fruit flavors and aromas, such as hay, mushrooms, or nuts. But, most importantly, taste, experience, and decide what the wine smells and tastes like to you. Everyone senses wine differently, and that’s part of the fun of new wine discovery.
We suggest pairing a lightly oaked chardonnay such as this with oysters, sushi, light fish, or even chicken or pork tenderloin. Cheers!
Todd Wheeler – February 2022
Bacchus & Venus Wines 