Happy Cyber Monday! Today, we’re thrilled to present you with a special steal of a deal on the bright, fresh and crisply delicious Croze 2014 Simone Vineyard Napa Valley Chardonnay. This vintage is the follow-up to one of our best-selling Chards of all time, the 2014. Guess what? This wine is better!

So fresh and so bright, with a nose of Meyer lemon, lime flower, pear, green apple, toasty oak, river rock and a hint of caramel. Juicy and delicious on the palate, with lemon curd, orange blossom, creamed white honey, pineapple, butterscotch, Asian pear, green apple and a hint of oak.

This wine was made from Oak Knoll fruit, sur lie and without malolactic fermentation which all combine to make this one complex, delicious and fun wine.

Let’s unpack sur lie and malolactic, shall we?

Sur lie means on the lees. In winemaking, the lees are the deposits of fruit or even residual yeast that reside at the bottom of a vessel (like a wine barrel or tank) of wine after fermentation and aging.

Instead of moving these deposits (by “racking” them, in winemaking lingo) the winemaker leaves the wine on the lees to give a wine added character, by allowing it to take up additional flavor.

Malolactic fermentation, (a method which this wine does not undergo) is winemaking process in which tart-tasting malic acid, which is naturally present in freshly pressed juice, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. This fermentation process is most often performed after the end of the primary fermentation.

The process is conventional for most red wine production and common for Chardonnay, where it can impart a “buttery” flavor. A non malolactic Chardonnay is most often characterized as being bright and crisp on the palate.

This wine hails from the Oak Knoll District of the broader Napa Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area). Oak Knoll is located within Napa Valley AVA at the southern end of the valley floor. The appellation’s close proximity to San Pablo Bay results in a climate that is cooler and more moderate than any region in Napa Valley - other than the Los Carneros AVA , where Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thrive.

The Oak Knoll AVA has more area under vine than any other wholly contained appellation within the Napa Valley. The district is planted largely to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay.

Oak Knoll was officially designated an appellation within the Napa Valley AVA on April 26, 2004.