The Monte Xanic Estate
- Monte Xanic is heralded as the first boutique winery in Mexico, established in 1988. The story goes that this move, (and Monte Xanic's subsequent success) played a major role in starting a trend towards grape farmers making wine from their own grapes rather than raising grapes for sale.
- With a large quantity of land under vine in all the major wine growing valleys of the region, they are by far the most prolific of the boutique wineries in the region.
- Their vineyard sites are farmed sustainably, and their winery operates as a model of modern ecofriendly design.
- The estate weds advanced technology with old world wisdom, such as harvesting all their white grapes by hand at night in order to maintain maximum freshness and acidity.
- The "X" in Xanic is pronounced like a "sh", so Xanic sounds like "shan-eek". Xanic is the name of the white flower that is one of the first to bloom in spring in Valle de Guadalupe. When the spring rains are just right, the mountainside behind the winery is cloaked in their blooms.
Total production: 18 wines, 100,000 cases
2022 Chardonnay - Monte Xanic
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
For a chardonnay that sees 9 months of aging in French Oak barrels, this reads much fresher and truer to the variety that most oaked Chardonnays. In keeping with a n approach that worked well in the previous vintages, winemaker Oscar Gaona made multiple harvests as the growing season reached its end so he could maximize both ripe fruit and crisp acidity. That labor intensive approach coupled with a much tighter selection have elevated the quality of this wine as it has the rest of the wines from this estate in recent vintages. Bravo!
Drinking window: Upon release - 7 years
Vintage:
2022
Blend:
100% Chardonnay
Producer:
Monte Xanic
Winemaker:
Oscar Gaona - Mexican
Vineyards:
Valle de Guadalupe
Aging:
Fermented stainless steel tanks and aged in new French oak barrels for 3 months.
Farming:
Sustainable
Alcohol:
13.0%
