My Grapes Into My Wine
The Wine
La Luke Chardonnay
The 2018 La Luke Chardonnay – Available Now!
2017 La Luke Chardonnay – sold out
2015 La Luke Chardonnay – sold out
2014 La Luke Chardonnay – sold out
2013 La Luke Chardonnay – sold out
2012 La Luke Chardonnay – sold out
2011 La Luke Chardonnay – sold out
2018 La Luke Carneros Chardonnay
Aging: 18 months in seasoned French Oak on very fine lees, with 9% new french and very fine grains Center Of France oak. The wine was able to achieve an elegant texture and multi-layering of flavor.
Vintage notes
The 2018 Carneros region vintage will be remembered as a colder and slower season. It produced wines with profound elegance and delicacies. Bud break started about a month later than the last 5 vintages, and at a date recognized as being more in line with the historical averages. A mild spring allowed for a nice crop set and it was followed with a “cold” summer by Northern California standard. It resulted in slow maturing and perfect conditions for Chardonnay, retaining freshness while developing intricate complexity of flavors.
Tasting notes
Very youthful pale gold with green hue. Our 2018 La Luke vintage shows minerality and has a very intense citrusy nose intermixed with jasmine and mandarin accents.
Refreshing and complex, the palate is so precise and give way to a broad mid palate, with peach, apricot, and the returns of floral character. The acidity carries the wine from start to finish. It is full of energy but also a serious wine that promises tons of reward in early drinking but will age impeccably for 6 to 10 years.
Vintage: 2018
Production: 11 barrels
Alcohol: 12.1 % ABV
Cellar Notes: Perfect for the impatient oenophile, this wine is ready to be enjoyed now, and will also age gracefully for 6 to 9 years.
Label Notes: The sketch is of LaLuke, world champion horse. When we drink Chardonnay this good, we all feel like World Champion!
Winemaker : Stéphane Vivier
Aging:
12 months in seasoned French Oak on very fine lees to give the wine balance without sacrificing an ounce of nuance.
Vintage notes:
2017 started wet and rainy with record breaking rain from November thru April. With a mild early Spring and bud break in March, it was the recipe for a wild Spring & Summer, when we had to keep up with the fast growing vines. A mild Summer temperatures provided a breather with colder weather and foggy condition in late August bringing a welcomed and slow ripening at the end of the ripening cycle. However, Labor day week end provided a sustained heat spiked, jeopardizing the freshness of the fruit. Luckily, we were aware of the heat spell coming and were able to take the fruit home to the winery on August 30, preserving the energy of the vintage.
Tasting notes:
Very youthful pale gold with green hue. The 2017 La Luke shows great elegance and energy from the beginning. Refreshing and complex, it is an elegant and racy Chardonnay with plenty of tension and vigor. Citrus and pear characters combine with floral components to create a lively and controlled wine. Intense and lengthy finish provide reward in early drinking but promise for a great cellar experience as well.
Vintage: 2017
Production: 8 barrels
Alcohol: 13.4% ABV
Cellar Notes: Perfect for the impatient oenophile, this wine is ready to be enjoyed now, and will also age gracefully for 6 to 9 years.
Label Notes: The sketch is of LaLuke, world champion horse. When we drink Chardonnay this good, we all feel like World Champion!
2018 La Luke Chardonnay – Robert Parker Wine Advocate Review
A small-production wine made by Burgundy-born Stéphane Vivier, this impresses in its crisp, juicy acidity and high-toned aspects of citrus, pear and mineral. With impressive structure and elegance, it delights the palate and stays on the mind, with a floral flourish on the long finish. VIRGINIE BOONE
The Wine
La Luke Chardonnay
2018 La Luke Carneros Chardonnay
Aging: 18 months in seasoned French Oak on very fine lees, with 9% new french and very fine grains Center Of France oak. The wine was able to achieve an elegant texture and multi-layering of flavor.
Vintage notes
The 2018 Carneros region vintage will be remembered as a colder and slower season. It produced wines with profound elegance and delicacies. Bud break started about a month later than the last 5 vintages, and at a date recognized as being more in line with the historical averages. A mild spring allowed for a nice crop set and it was followed with a “cold” summer by Northern California standard. It resulted in slow maturing and perfect conditions for Chardonnay, retaining freshness while developing intricate complexity of flavors.
Tasting notes
Very youthful pale gold with green hue. Our 2018 La Luke vintage shows minerality and has a very intense citrusy nose intermixed with jasmine and mandarin accents.
Refreshing and complex, the palate is so precise and give way to a broad mid palate, with peach, apricot, and the returns of floral character. The acidity carries the wine from start to finish. It is full of energy but also a serious wine that promises tons of reward in early drinking but will age impeccably for 6 to 10 years.
Vintage: 2018
Production: 11 barrels
Alcohol: 12.1 % ABV
Cellar Notes: Perfect for the impatient oenophile, this wine is ready to be enjoyed now, and will also age gracefully for 6 to 9 years.
Label Notes: The sketch is of LaLuke, world champion horse. When we drink Chardonnay this good, we all feel like World Champion!
Winemaker : Stéphane Vivier
Aging:
12 months in seasoned French Oak on very fine lees to give the wine balance without sacrificing an ounce of nuance.
Vintage notes:
2017 started wet and rainy with record breaking rain from November thru April. With a mild early Spring and bud break in March, it was the recipe for a wild Spring & Summer, when we had to keep up with the fast growing vines. A mild Summer temperatures provided a breather with colder weather and foggy condition in late August bringing a welcomed and slow ripening at the end of the ripening cycle. However, Labor day week end provided a sustained heat spiked, jeopardizing the freshness of the fruit. Luckily, we were aware of the heat spell coming and were able to take the fruit home to the winery on August 30, preserving the energy of the vintage.
Tasting notes:
Very youthful pale gold with green hue. The 2017 La Luke shows great elegance and energy from the beginning. Refreshing and complex, it is an elegant and racy Chardonnay with plenty of tension and vigor. Citrus and pear characters combine with floral components to create a lively and controlled wine. Intense and lengthy finish provide reward in early drinking but promise for a great cellar experience as well.
Vintage: 2017
Production: 8 barrels
Alcohol: 13.4% ABV
Cellar Notes: Perfect for the impatient oenophile, this wine is ready to be enjoyed now, and will also age gracefully for 6 to 9 years.
Label Notes: The sketch is of LaLuke, world champion horse. When we drink Chardonnay this good, we all feel like World Champion!
Winemaker : Stéphane Vivier
To Stéphane, the best winemaker is one that largely keeps his hands to himself, allowing the alchemy of nature to do what it does best. As he says, “Being a lazy winemaker is all about being patient, letting the place talk, and being gentle with the grapes. Making it simple.”
Born and raised in France, Stéphane obtained degrees in viticulture and enology from Université de Bourgogne in Dijon. Cultivating his skills in the vineyards of Switzerland, Sonoma and New Zealand he discovered the difference between Old World and New World winemaking. The vineyards were young, as were the winemakers, giving free rein for them to put their stamp on the wines they crafted.
Purchase the Wine
La Luke Chardonnay 2018
$60/per bottle
plus: California taxes and Shipping cost
La Luke Chardonnay 2017
$60/per bottle
Limited Quantity
plus: California taxes and Shipping cost
To Order Your Wine
Email Lynn Larson
The Story
Lynn Larson, Proprietor
La Luke Vineyards Ranch
How many people do you know who took their horse to college with them?
This simple fact explains the love affair that Lynn has had all her life with horses, and which provided the bridge from growing up in the midwest to growing grapes in California’s Sonoma Valley.
Lynn has been surrounded by horses all her life. From growing up in Santa Rosa, California through college at University of Missouri, where she graduated with a degree in Agricultural Chemistry, to her current life, owning Double T Ranch located in the heart of Carneros.
Lynn moved to Northern California to undertake clinical lab research in the early 1970s. In 1976 Lynn purchased what was a 10-acre field used for running cattle and began the work of transforming the land into a working horse farm. Concurrently, Lynn began to notice that the surrounding fields were slowly being transformed into vineyards. This transformation occurred after a neighboring test vineyard study showed that the area was ideal for growing world class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay; the staples for creating fine sparkling wines.
Lynn surrounded herself with people who could teach her all she needed to know about growing high quality grapes. By the early 90s, Lynn had learned all she needed, and converted 6 acres of the horse farm into a Chardonnay vineyard and began growing and selling the grapes to several local wineries on a contract basis.
All the while, Lynn grew the horse ranch and continued to show her horses – including La Luke who became a World Champion. In 2011, Lynn took the decision to begin her own wine label under the Double T Ranch brand. What better way to honor the two passions in life than to name her inaugural Chardonnay wine ‘La Luke’.
Her vision for Double T Ranch is to produce Ultra Premium wines that honor the horses that have been such an integral part of her journey.
La Luke
Lu Luke showed great promise as a young hunter jumper in Texas under the training of David Connors and Bill Ellis. Lynn and La Luke competed in Hunter Jumper shows in New York and Florida. He consequently won many awards culminating as the World Champion.
After 9/11 when travel became difficult, Lynn and La Luke moved back to California where he continued his award winning competitions.
How many people do you know who took their horse to college with them?
This simple fact explains the love affair that Lynn has had all her life with horses, and which provided the bridge from growing up in the midwest to growing grapes in California’s Sonoma Valley.
Her vision for Double T Ranch is to produce Ultra Premium wines that honor the horses that have been such an integral part of her journey.
Lu Luke showed great promise as a young hunter jumper in Texas under the training of David Connors and Bill Ellis. Lynn and La Luke competed in Hunter Jumper shows in New York and Florida. He consequently won many awards culminating as the World Champion.
After 9/11 when travel became difficult, Lynn and La Luke moved back to California where he continued his award winning competitions.
Kind words about my wine:
Wine Access review…
This is the closest you’ll get to Grand Cru Chablis in the Golden State. The 2017 La Luke Chardonnay is characterized by its tantalizing nuance, opening with aromas of golden apple, quince, fresh morning dew, toasted nuts, and baking spice. The palate is even more focused with delicate citrus, oyster shell minerality, and a fresh acidity that provides an energetic lift to the ripe fruit and restrained oak. It’s that classic Burgundian structure that will allow 2017 La Luke to cellar up to a decade. How many California Chardonnays can you say that about? read more…
“La Luke Chardonnay is an exquisite example of a bright and delicious wine. The bold fruit for this extra special wine is grown in the gorgeous Carneros region of Sonoma. It is cultivated and nurtured by an equally special woman whose true passions in life are creating incredible wines, and caring for her world champion horses.”
“This Chardonnay is by far and always has been a favorite. It is a wonderful wine by itself and an unparalleled compliment to food. It never fails to impress. The fruit is distinctive and consistently delivers the same wonderful pallet vintage after vintage.”
Contact
707-694-3518
