This selection is then aged for five months with regular lees stirring for extra richness and complexity. From a near perfect vintage in the Dunnigan Hills the finest Chardonnay fruit is picked for this label before a meticulous process to select the finest 10% barrel selection. This is the 2018 vintage of one of their most premium labels, The Arsonist. To this day the brothers still look at the Matchbook label and reminisce about their dear old pyro-mad days! Uncontrolled blazes, rockets being launched into the sky and frequent calls to the local fire department. An hour long stay behind bars (imposed by Dad) didnвЂ™t put them off either. Seriously, theВ Giguiere brothers (from the family who owns Matchbook wines) were known pyromaniacs back in the 50s and 60s вЂ“ even setting fire to the family wheat fields. But these guys are taking it to the next level вЂ“ and weвЂ™re not just talkinвЂ™ about the wine! We know that these styles of old skool, barrel fermented, big and buttery Chardonnay are on fire these days. If youвЂ™ve got a burning desire for the bigger, richer, fully barrel fermented styles of Californian then itвЂ™s time to light things up with a bottle of The Arsonist by Matchbook.

November Wine Pick: Matchbook Tinto Rey Red Blend.

A Brief History of Matchbook Wine Company.

Wine Review: Mossback Russian River Valley 2014 Ch.

Wine Review: Mossback Russian River Valley 2013 Pi.

Wine Review: Matchbook Dunnigan Hills 2012 Old Hea.

One of the wines we tasted was Matchbook Winery Arsonist Chardonnay. The Arsonist label features a Titan from Greek mythology, Prometheus, that stole fire from Zeus offering it to mortals on earth.

Wine Review: Matchbook Dunnigan Hills 2012 Tempran. The wineries name, Matchbook, comes from those early years of fire and matchbooks.

Wine Review: Matchbook The Arsonist 2012 Red Blend.

Wine Review: Matchbook The Arsonist 2013 Chardonnay.

I'd like to thank Matchbook Wine Company for making this whole month possible. That's it for Matchbook Wine Company Month. If $20 is in your budget for a Chardonnay, you see this badass sitting there just waiting to be purchased, and you still don't end up buying it then I will be severely disappointed in you. There's no shame in silver, especially when you still get a perfect score. But how many $20 Chardonnay's have I had? It's gotta be a pretty impressive tally. In fact, there's only one Chardonnay in that price point that I carry at work that I would suggest above it: Scott Family Chardonnay. In my opinion the Arsonist places in the top five Chardonnay's in the $20 price range. I feel like the 2012 had more wood flavor from the oak than the 2013, but that doesn't even bother me because it's still amazing. Rich and smooth mouthfeel, medium body, excellent balance with all these things playing nicely with its acidity. On the palate I get pineapple, canned pears, butterscotch and banana. It just beckons you to enter into Chardonnay heaven like mermaids luring in sailors with their songs. On the nose there's aromas of butterscotch, buttered popcorn, corn muffin and pineapple. Nomnom! But anyways, it's got that same color of yellow.

The first time tasting white grape juice was a revelation. Have you had that stuff? I don't think I did before we had our daughter. But I'm talking about the non-alcoholic white grape juice by Welch's or something. Anchored by Petit Verdot the grace of the wine shows in. I know that's redundant because that's what it is, smartass. Arsonist Red Blend is our left of center take on the classic Bordeaux blend. It looks like white grape juice in color.

Matchbook the arsonist