Charles Smith Eve Chardonnay, Washington 2014
$16.99 at Crush Wine & Spirits in Bryant, Arkansas (AR)
100% Chardonnay, whole-cluster pressed, fermented on the lees, 20% malolactic fermentation, no new oak, five months barrel-aged on the lees.
Pear, tangerine, green apple, honeydew with a touch of minerality.
Charles Smith – a pioneer and innovator in the Washington wine industry. He grew up outside of Sacramento in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. With a Welsh mother and French father, he developed a craving for world travel. He moved to Denmark in 1990 and for nine years he managed rock bands and concert tours throughout Europe. Wining and dining on the road sparked his passion for wine.
In 1999, Charles moved back to the U.S. in the Pacific Northwest and opened a wine shop on Bainbridge Island across Puget Sound from Seattle. In late 1999 while in southeast Washington in the Walla Walla district of Columbia Valley, he met a French winemaker who had the same passion for great Syrah. He subsequently moved to Walla Walla to make his own wine. In 2001, he released 330 cases of his first wine K Syrah 1999.
In 2004, Charles started a label called House Wine that he later sold to Precept Brands in 2006. That year he started Charles Smith Wines. He called it “The Modernist Project” which focused on the way people generally drink wine today – immediately. His intent was to create wines to be enjoyed right away, but with a genuine identity of both the varietal and the vineyard.
His other labels of Charles Smith Wines are: Kung Fu Girl Riesling, The Velvet Devil Merlot, Boom Boom! Syrah, and Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon.
He has had success with other wine projects such as Charles & Charles, ViNO, Sixto, and Casa Smith.
He developed his striking black and white wine label designs while promoting rock band gigs. He made thousands of black and white posters off copy machines to make bold graphic designs.
A self-taught winemaker. In 2008, Wine & Spirits named Charles Smith Wines one of the Best New Wineries of the Last 10 Years and Winery of the Year. In 2014, Wine Enthusiast named him Winemaker of the Year.
His mantra that he attributes his success to has been to make “a product people like, in a bottle that’s easy to remember.”
