Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This sources from blocks planted in 1991 and 1997, older selections that show grace and power in the wine. Exotic in lemongrass, ginger and Asian pear, the vineyard-designate doesn't hold back on supportive Meyer lemon-crisp acidity, enough to balance out the richer concentrated fruit aspects and classic oak. This is delicious.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: When I first met David Ramey, he was a winemaker at Simi Winery. Already focused and dedicated, I knew that this was a winemaker to follow and that he would make heroic as his career grew. The 2015 Ramey Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay is a crowning achievement. TASTING NOTES: This wine delivers. Its aromas and flavors of persistent core fruit flavors, complex oak nuances, and tangy citrus stays long and focused on the palate. Pair it with lobster in a savory cream sauce. (Tasted: May 13, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a site in Carneros owned by the Hyde Family (aka the King of Carneros), the 2015 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard offers up a deep, rich, yet beautifully fresh style as well as perfumed notes of lemon peel, juicy citrus, and honeyed apples. It picks up a hint of pineapple with time in the glass, has building richness, and powerful yet elegant texture that keeps you coming back to the glass. It’s a beautiful 2015 Chardonnay that’s drinking great today.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard has a gregarious white peach, green mango and passion fruit nose with touches of cashews, lightly browned toast and butterscotch. Medium-bodied, the palate is chock-full of zip and zing, with a great intensity of vibrant tropical fruit flavors and a wicked acid backbone, finishing on a lingering mineral note.
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Decanter
Marine breezes flowing through the Petaluma Gap cool this historic vineyard on the Napa side of the Carneros District. This wine has been a classic since its first vintage in 1996, and it seems to be picked earlier than in the past. Savoury, bright, elegant and long, it shows pretty aromas of lemon, white flowers and minerals. It’s brisk and tightly wound, with plenty of natural acidity to lift the palate. It has the structure to age.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.