Truchard Chardonnay

Product Description

The Truchard family wine tradition began in the U.S. over a century ago. In 1887, Jean Marie Truchard emigrated from a small town outside of Lyon, with his brother, Father Anthony Marie Truchard, a Catholic priest. Together they established a vineyard and winery on a 500-acre plot of land in Southeast Texas. During that time, phylloxera was devastating the vineyards in Europe. Although no formal records exist, it is possible that Jean Marie and Anthony left because this root louse caused the grape vines in France to quickly shrivel and die. This may also have influenced the brothers to plant a more disease-resistant grape called Herbemont that was originally grown in the northern part of Africa, a French colony at the time. In those days, Texas was recognized for viticulture, given its “can-do” spirit and local botany knowledge. Despite these facts and their best efforts, the Truchard winery, founded just outside Houston, did not survive prohibition. During Tony’s tour in California the Truchard family took a number of road trips. On one such trip, after checking in at the Presidio in San Francisco, the family drove up to the Napa Valley to see the vineyards. Tony thought it would be “fun” to buy some Napa property and plant a vineyard. During the next two decades, Tony continued to buy property until he had 400 adjoining acres. Over the years, the Truchards slowly expanded their estate. Neighbors noticed Tony having great success with grapes and would approach him about buying their farms. Jo Ann, who was trying to raise six children, would quickly object to buying any more property. While Tony, not able to resist, always had to know how much they were asking. He was transforming pasture into prime vineyards, quite the opposite of the first Truchard descendent — Jean Marie. Luckily for Tony, he’d found the right spot and land prices in Napa continued to trend upwards. Since 1973, the Truchard estate has grown to 400 acres, of which 280 acres are planted. (Roughly 80% Sustainably Grown, 20% Organically Grown). After selling their grapes to premier wineries for 15 years, the Truchards began producing their own wines in 1989 to great acclaim. The rest is history …

An intense nose of pineapple, green apple, and honeysuckle; with a hint of nutmeg, fig, and toasted oak. The mouth is bright and balanced; filled with flavours of fresh pear, Meyer lemon, and lime. Firm acidity provides a crisp finish of citrus, mineral, and spice.