Winemaker Notes
The 2024 Riva Ranch Chardonnay opens with vibrant aromas of ripe Honeycrisp apples, fresh Bartlett pears, and toasted brioche, offering an inviting and expressive nose. On the palate, the well developed fruit character is layered with a touch of creamy oak, revealing subtle notes of crème brûlée and a generous hint of buttery richness that extends through a long, elegant finish. A slightly viscous and supple mouthfeel is lifted by refreshing, well integrated acidity, bringing both balance and energy to this richly textured, beautifully crafted wine.
Blend: 99% Chardonnay, 1% Gewurztraminer
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Golden apples, caramel apples and lemon candy on the nose, with apple pie and lemon meringue on the palate. It’s toasty, creamy, full-bodied and balanced by fresh acidity.
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.
Named after the dramatic, seasonal river of rain and snowmelt that cuts through the upper elevations of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the Arroyo Seco AVA extends east from the resultant mountain gorge, and into the rural and warm Salinas Valley. During the growing season, cool and damp Pacific Ocean air penetrates the gorge and flows into the valley, creating a cool evening respite for vineyards after a hot summer day. This natural water-release has also created a subterranean aquifer, which helps set the foundation of the AVA's boundaries and supplies the vineyards with water.
Arroyo Seco was actually home to the first commercial vineyard in California, called Mission Ranch, which was owned and propogated by the Mirassou family in the 1960s.
Chardonnay is most widely grown here. But as one of Monterey’s warmer regions, Arroyo Seco enjoys the highest praise for its reds, namely Bordeaux blends.
Arroyo Seco is one of the oldest AVAs in California, its status granted in the early 1980s, and also remains one of its smallest.