Winemaker Notes
Vine selection for their Hyde Vineyard Chardonnays are predominantly old Wente with some Robert Young—itself a Wente selection. The Wente produces a classic, Burgundian-style wine without the tropical fruit tones of some California Chardonnays. Hyde Vineyard wines often seem charming and feminine, with high natural acidity playing a prominent role.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
So well layered, delicious and vibrant, combining a rich texture with full, ripe fruit flavors and wonderful accents of lemon curd, flint and baking spices. A great wine from a great vineyard in an outstanding vintage. While generous and full-flavored, it also retains great balance, minerality and a slight sense of restraint in the vivid acidity. Fresh and compelling. Drinkable now and best from 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard is elegant and expressive! Quince and white peach are accented by wafts of matchstick, elderflower, Greek yogurt and crème brûlée. The medium-bodied palate is bursting with concentrated, nuanced flavors delivered in a silky texture. Vibrant acidity adds compelling tension, and it has a very long, elegant finish. It should be long lived in the cellar.
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Vinous
The 2023 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard is classy, elegant and polished. Soft contours and lifted aromatics convey total finesse. Orchard fruit, lemon confit, marzipan, white flowers, mint, white pepper and acacia are all very nicely lifted. This is an especially refined rendition of Hyde.
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.