Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lush, broad and generous, a full-bodied wine that's creamy in texture and super-ripe in flavor. Lots of vanilla bean, white chocolate, honeydew melon and spiced apple flavors with a luxurious mouth-feel and long finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This brand continues to offer stellar value and opulent selections. This wine is for Chardonnay lovers who like subtle oak, rich stone fruits, and baking spices. It is reminiscent of apple tartin with a crème Fraiche. Pair with poached Seabream, butter sauce, fiddlehead ferns.
Editors' Choice
California’s most praised white wine, Chardonnay is also the state’s most planted white grape variety. Diverse terrain and microclimates allow for an incredible range of wine styles.
Chardonnay planted in the cooler, coastal zones takes on bright characteristics like lemon zest, key lime, green apple and wet flint. For this style, look to the chilly Sonoma Coast, Carneros, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Lucia Highlands and Edna Valley.
The inland zones of California’s coast, such as the Russian River, Sonoma, Napa and Livermore Valleys maintain a more Goldilocks-esque climate where both styles go. Early picking retains acidity and creates a leaner style but leaving the grapes to hang creates an approachable Chardonnay, balancing richness and finesse.
Chardonnay also plays a major part in the sparkling wine production of the Anderson Valley and Carneros.