Winemaker Notes
Golden apple, poached pear, and creme brûlée aromas over layers of creamy oak lead to a rich mouthfeel with honey and graham cracker flavors and fresh underlying acidity. The balanced midpalate lasts through the finish, with quince, custard, and baked apple flavors.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A bright yellow color, the 2022 Chardonnay Reserve leaps from the glass with lush aromas of buttered citrus, popcorn, and ripe pineapple. Medium to full-bodied, it keeps a good deal of focus and a linear feel, and while it’s full-bodied, it delivers a good deal of bright acidity and is more citrus-driven on the palate. They used about 60-70% new oak in this cuvée, and only a couple hundred cases were produced.
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Wine Enthusiast
Loads of fresh citrus and white flower aromas dominate the nose of this Chardonnay, while the palate brings rich texture from barrel aging and flavors of roasted pear, cinnamon, lemon peel and a finish that brings to mind salt spray and juicy tangerines.
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Wine Spectator
Shows delicacy and harmony, with pretty notes of salted butter, pear pastry, butterscotch and Fuji apple. Details of spices, nutmeg and marzipan emerge alongside vanilla macaron details that linger on the long, expressive and creamy finish. Drink now through 2035.
Founded by wine industry pioneer, Rod Strong, in 1959, Rodney Strong Vineyards is now owned by the Kleins, a farming-based family that prides itself on land stewardship and a relentless push for superior wine quality from Sonoma County. After purchasing the company in 1989, Tom Klein began the endeavor that today brings together excellent vineyards, the industry's finest winemaking equipment, and exceptional talent. The winery farms and sources grapes from vineyards throughout Sonoma County, focusing on Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley and Chalk Hill. Rodney Strong Vineyards is best known for its estate-bottled and vineyard-designated wines, and is also recognized for their sustainable and Fish Friendly Farming, dedication to solar energy production and becoming carbon neutral in 2009.
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.
A standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.