Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Chardonnay is one of the most unique Chardonnays being made in California. It shows gorgeous textural finesse and fabulous overall balance. The signature Napa Valley richness is there, but in a cooler, more mineral-driven style. Smoke, crushed rocks and citrus are layered into the vibrant finish. This is a fabulous showing. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019.
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Wine & Spirits
From Antinori's vineyard on Atlas Peak, this chardonnay is a blend of six different blocks, planted in the range of 1,400 feet elevation. This was whole-cluster pressed, the must chilled in stainless steel before fermenting and aging in French Oak (30% new). That oak influence is more apparent in the full richness of the wine than in the aroma or flavor. Pale, savory, creamy and fine, this has a finish that brings lemon curd and apples to mind. There's a pleasant warmth to the end, balancing the firm concentrated fruit and placing it with roast fish.
ANTICA is a symbol for Antinori California and expresses in Italian our family's passion for winemaking passed along 26 generations.
Napa Valley has a special place in my heart beginning with my first visit in 1966, having the free spirit coming from a new frontier, a wonderful history, and the potential to produce world-class wines.
Our wine estate is located on a high plain in the eastern mountains of the celebrated Napa Valley. Its hilly terrain, rocky soils, high elevations and beautiful landscape create above all an estate ideal for winegrowing.
Marchese Piero Antinori - Proprietor
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.
Just northeast of Napa city, Atlas Peak boasts some of Napa Valley’s highest elevation vineyards. Here the intense sunlight coupled with cool, nighttime temperatures produce grapes that are perfectly ripe, balanced and concentrated. The appellation is rich in volcanic soils and excels in the production of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.