2021 Brosseau Vineyard Chardonnay
Chalone AVA
Tasting Notes
“Straw hue. Seductive scents of apricot, brioche, salted caramel, and coconut. With some time, notes of kiwi, papaya, nutmeg, and wild thyme make for a distinctive experience. Upon taste, these characters continue along with some grapefruit to add freshness to the palate. Brightness and fine tannins lead to some tension in the texture, alluding to a long prosperous life ahead. This wine finishes subtle initially, then continues to concentrate on the palate over time. Decant for immediate enjoyment or enjoy through 2036.”
~Bill Brosseau, Director of Winemaking
November 2023
“Medium yellow gold. Made from the unique, high altitude terroir of the Chalone AVA, this Chardonnay is savory and dense. It’s packed with flavors that evoke tropical and stone fruit and a firm sense of minerality, reminiscent of a Les Clos Chablis. A gorgeous combination of restrained power and energetic vibrance with a long, stony finish. Sourced from the 42 year old, 1700’ high vineyard planted to the Wente Clone with limestone soils in the Chalone AVA. Matured 20 months in 47% new French oak. pH 3.3, 14.1% alc.” Don Winkler, International Wine Review, May 2024
“Notes of sliced pineapple and candied lemons with honeysuckle and caramel notes. Medium- to full-bodied, crisp and minerally, with creamy undertones that turn to a lingering, lightly phenolic aftertaste. Drink or hold.” JamesSuckling.com, April 2024
Production Data
Growers: Brosseau Family
Winemaker: Bill Brosseau
Appellation: Chalone AVA
Elevation/Exposure: 1,660 – 1,700 ft./South, West, and East
Soil: Heavy limestone soils with lesser influence of decomposed granite
Vineyard Age: 41 years
Viticulture Practice: Certified Organic
Vinification: Pressed Whole-Cluster, fermented in French Oak
Cooperage & Ageing: 20 months in French oak, 47% new
Production: 14 barrels
Composition: 100% Chardonnay (100% Wente Clone)
Acidity: 3.3 pH, 6.92 TA (g/L)
Alcohol: 14.1%
Harvest: August 24, 2021, hand harvested
Club Release: December 2023
Release Price: $55
Drink Now through 2036
Past Vintage Wine Scores
“A light sizzle of lemon juice, clean peach and delicate pineapple aromas make for a very clean and inviting nose on this bottling from winemaker Bill Brosseau’s family vineyard. A firm tension frames the sip, where lemony acidity, light apple and a hint of pear meet with a pinch of salt.”
Matt Kettmann
Wine Enthusiast
June/July 2022 Issue
“Cured lemon, beeswax and spice show on the nose. This is a complex and savory Chardonnay with good phenolics and a hint of salinity. The flavors evoke dried fruit, prairie flowers and herbs. Finishing with a chalky, grippy mouth feel and lingering earth and mineral notes.”
Don Winkler
International Wine Review
October 2021
“Shimmering straw-gold. Mineral-tinged citrus and pit fruits, chamomile, honey and jasmine qualities are present on the highly perfumed nose. Shows very good depth to its tangerine, white peach and vanilla flavors while betraying no excess fat. Finishes spicy, focused and quite long, leaving resonating floral, ginger and vanilla notes behind. 46% new French oak.”
Josh Raynolds
Vinous
May 2022
“Silky smooth with rich tropical fruit and soft toast; bright, clean and nicely balanced; elegant and balanced with style and finesse.”
Anthony Dias Blue
April 2020
“Intensely aromatic with a floral, slightly honeysuckle cast that straightaway marks it as being a bit different and distinct from the rest of its clan, this bottling made from grapes grown in the family vineyard of Testarossa winemaker, Bill Brosseau, is a keenly focused Chardonnay that conveys a good sense of ripe, fruity richness. If by no means a timid wine, it is not one that swaggers and instead carries itself with grace. It will age effortlessly for a good half-decade or more on the strength of its very fine balance and looks sure to build on its now-subtle impressions of layered complexity as it does.”
Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
November 2020
“Limpid bright-hued yellow. Pungent orchard and pit fruit and candied fig aromas pick up brighter Meyer lemon and mineral qualities with air, along with a suave floral topnote. Silky and energetic on the palate, offering juicy white peach, honeydew and tangerine flavors underscored by vanilla and smoky mineral elements. Finishes very long and smooth, with resonating florality and refreshingly bitter pear skin and peach pit flourishes.”
Josh Raynolds
Antonio Galloni Vinous
November 2019
“Pale yellow-gold. Displays heady aromas of ripe pear, peach nectar and Meyer lemon, which are complemented by subtle hints of toasty lees and fennel. Juicy and seamless on the palate, offering concentrated orchard and pit fruit flavors that pick up sexy oak spice and honey flourishes on the back half. Finishes sappy, broad and long, leaving a buttered-toast note behind.”
Josh Raynolds
Antonio Galloni Vinous
“The 2015 Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard features a seriously savory nose of yeast extract, crusty bread, beeswax and cashews with an earthy/minerally undercurrent and core of lemon pie, warm grapefruit and white peaches. Medium-bodied, it has a lively backbone of refreshing acidity cutting the intense savory flavors, finishing long and satiny.”
Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
September 2017
“Winemaker Bill Brousseau taps his family vineyard for this bottling that leans toward a more delicate style, offering light white flowers, yellow melon, tangerine peels, kumquat, Asian pear and a hint of clove and cinnamon spice. A baking-soda energy pops on the palate, where lemon blossoms and pink-grapefruit rinds collide for a tart chorus.”
Wine Enthusiast
MT
November 2016
“Coming from limestone and granite soils, the 2012 Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard is stunning. Made in a rich, full-flavored style, it has knockout aromas and flavors of apple and stone fruits, toasted nuts, white flowers and hints of honeycomb. This all flows to a medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated, layered and balanced white that has integrated acidity and notable precision and focus on the finish. Seeing just under 12 months in 31% new French oak, enjoy this beauty over the coming 2-3 years.”
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“Testarossa’s 2011 Chardonnay Brosseau is one of the most fascinating wines of the year. Rich yet weightless, the 2011 hovers on the palate with effortless grace and class. Graphite, crushed rocks and lemon peel are woven together in a wine of impeccable class. An exotic, layered Chardonnay, the 2011 retains considerable brightness despite its obvious size. Yields were a measly 0.8 tons per acre, largely because of rain during flowering. This is another polished, gracious Chadonnay from Testarossa.”
Antonio Galloni
Vinous Media
The Brosseau Vineyard
The Brosseau estate in the Chalone appellation is arguably the most unique vineyard source in the Testarossa line-up. Standing 1,600 feet above sea level in Monterey County’s Gabilan Mountains, you can actually see the Brosseau Vineyard’s terroir. The rocky crags and peaks of nearby Pinnacles National Monument loom over the almost moonscape-like panorama. This is the heart of the historic Chalone appellation, where you can literally taste the district’s ancient decomposed granite and limestone soils in every drop of wine. Owned by Testarossa Director of Winemaking, Bill Brosseau’s family, the property was originally planted in 1980. Brosseau manages the entire process from the dirt to the bottle and the results are stunning.