Three Wheels and a Breeze
TASTING NOTES:
2023 Tuk Tuk Chardonnay, Los Carneros, Napa Valley: “The 2023 Los Carneros - Napa Valley Chardonnay displays notes of apples, Asian pears, stone fruits, white flowers and lemon curd, alongside juicy pineapple, freshly baked pie dough, marzipan, and fresh cream. The finish moves further into the tropical, with notes of mango and lime coming into the mix. Ready to drink but built to last.” Gold Medal, San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. (AbV 13.6%)
VARIETALS: 100% Chardonnay. Los Carneros, Napa Valley — an unnamed single vineyard. 350 cases produced.
BARRELS: 33% barrel fermented in new French oak, 66% in stainless steel. 35% malolactic fermentation. Aged in a combination of new (33%) and neutral barrels with regular bâtonnage. Serve at 55°F — or better yet, 60°F, where the winemaker says it really shows off.
PAIRS WITH: “Fish Tacos, Chicken Satay, Green Papaya Salad, Crispy Pork Belly.”
THAT REMINDS ME OF: The tuk-tuk rides you never forget.
There is a moment, about thirty seconds into your first tuk-tuk ride, when you realize that the driver considers lane markings to be decorative. Not advisory, not aspirational — decorative, like wallpaper. The little three-wheeled thing darts between a bus and a motorcycle carrying what appears to be an entire family of five, and you grip the metal bar behind you and think: I have made a terrible mistake. Then the smell of pad thai from a street stall hits you, and a breeze that’s somehow both hot and refreshing comes through the open sides, and the driver honks at nothing in particular — just a friendly announcement of his continued existence — and you think: actually, this is perfect.
David McCluskey named his winery after these things. Not after a vineyard or a saint or a family crest, which is what most winemakers do, but after the janky, thrilling, possibly unsafe transportation of the developing world. And if that doesn’t tell you something about how seriously he takes the fun part of wine, nothing will. The guy makes a Chardonnay in Napa’s coolest corner that he specifically instructs you to drink warmer than most people serve Chardonnay, because he built it to open up at real-world temperatures, not the frigid pours restaurants default to. Five percent of profits go to charity. Three hundred and fifty cases produced. This is not a winery running a spreadsheet. This is a guy who rode a tuk-tuk somewhere and never quite got over it.
