Medium gold color; green apple, lime-lemon, green pear, blood orange, vanilla, cinnamon on the nose and palate.
Dry; very slight tannins; very good acidity (3.35 pH). Light-plus body. Nice floral aromatics. Fresh, juicy, polished, elegant effort. Each sip invites another. This is the Balletto estate grown style. Wine spent 10 months in mostly used French oak; as a result, oak is not dominant—the Russian River Valley fruit is the main player. Balletto also makes an unoaked version. 13.1% ABV
Balletto is one of the few Russian River wineries to be 100% estate grown and bottled. The grapes for this effort came from four different estate vineyards. All vineyards are sustainably grown. The winery concentrates on cool climate chardonnay and pinot noir. Grapes hand-picked. Fermentation by native yeasts; 100% malolactic fermentation/conversion adds creaminess.
In 1977, when his father suffered an untimely death, 17-year-old John Balletto chose to forego his collegiate athletic career to help his mother, Hazel, on the family farm. With just $200 in the bank, a flatbed truck, and five acres of land, John set about making it work. Alongside his wife, Terri, John expanded the farm into the largest vegetable farm north of the Golden Gate Bridge. They grew more than 70 different vegetables on more than 700 acres. More than two million cases of mixed vegetables moved through the facility.
As water issues constrained production, John looked for crops less dependent on water. Friend and neighbor Warren Dutton of Dutton Ranch encouraged John to plant his first vineyard in 1995. With El Niño issues and NAFTA, the vegetable business became more problematic. In 1999, John turned to grapes. He created Balletto Vineyards in 2001. Since then, Balletto Vineyards has grown to 22,000 cases a year, all using estate-grown fruit.
Balletto Vineyards Chardonnay, Russian River Valley 2021 refreshing, well done, excellent acidity and rich, bright, tangy fruit. Smooth, velvety easy drinker. All estate-grown, sustainably-farmed, hand-picked fruit. Reserved, deftly done oak that is subtle background flavor that does nothing to compete with the excellent cool-climate chardonnay fruit. Pair with poultry—chicken tagine with apricot couscous. Grilled pork chops. Seafood—stir-fried salmon, spicy mussel chowder, seafood linguine; boiled lobster, oysters; sushi and sashimi. Indian cuisine—butter chicken. Garden salad, spring salad. Cheese—fresh goat cheese, humboldt fog, pennyroyal laychee, comté, gruyère, brie, triple-cream cheeses. $30-35
