Five Wounds, No Papaya
TASTING NOTES:
2021 Olivet Lane Unoaked Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast - “An exemplary vintage, the 2021 Olivet Lane Unoaked Chardonnay bursts with aroma of pear, ginger, and hay straw. On the tongue, zippy lemon curd, passionfruit, and papaya highlight the grandiose mouth feel and length of finish.” (AbV 13.6%, pH 3.62, TA 7.31 g/L)
2018 Olivet Lane Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County - “Truly a bounty of complexity, the 2018 Olivet Lane Chardonnay jumps into the nose with lemon verbena, pear, sage, nutmeg, and toasted coconut. Upon the first sip, pralines, caramel, baked apples, and star anise ring in symphony with the bright acid, conveying lemon curd, granny smith apple, and white peach.” (AbV 14.2%, pH 3.48, TA 5.86 g/L)
VARIETALS: 100% Chardonnay. Gravelly, clay loam soils.
BARRELS: 10 months in steel drum & tank
PAIRS WITH: medium soft cheese and quince paste
THAT REMINDS ME OF: Passionfruit.
Spanish missionaries in 16th-century South America looked at the passionflower and saw a religious PowerPoint presentation. This is not a joke — they called it flor de las cinco llagas, “flower of the five wounds,” and then proceeded to allegorize literally every part of the plant. The three stigmas were the three nails. The five anthers were the five wounds of the crucifixion. The fringe of filaments in the center was the crown of thorns. Ten petals and sepals stood for ten faithful apostles (Judas and Peter got cut, for obvious reasons). Even the tendrils got drafted — whips, apparently — and the leaf shape supposedly evoked a spear.
It’s an absurd amount of symbolic labor to extract from one flower, and yet it worked well enough that “passion” stuck to the name permanently, even after it wandered into English attached to a completely different, much less sacred idea of “passion.” The fruit itself was just along for the ride — nobody was out here reading the Stations of the Cross into a papaya.
ICYMI, you have two choices:
- Worried Summer heat might get to your wine before your wine gets to you? Order from the sale linked here, and we’ll get it to you at a cooler time of year!
- Want it shipped now? Every package during the summer will have protected temp control ground shipping for much of the country that takes longer but will ensure safe delivery. Expect up to two weeks for delivery. Now through the September 12th offer.
