Winemaker Notes
Los Carneros Chardonnay displays great fruit freshness, intensity and elegance. This wine’s focus is primarily on aromatics, and our winemaking techniques are intended to retain the characteristic Carneros aromas of lemon-citrus and white blossom, while enhancing the minerality and bright, vibrant fruit flavors of citrus and stone fruits in the wine.
Blend: 100% Chardonnay
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Focused, with flavors of Gala apple, pear and apricot that feature lithe tropical accents. Flinty notes show on the finish, revealing spice and toasty details. Drink now through 2025
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Los Carneros features lemon tart, baked apples and spice cake notes with hints of cashews, powdered ginger and lightly buttered toast. Medium-bodied, the palate is understated and savory, with loads of nutty suggestions on the finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a broadly appealing wine offered at an outstanding price. It has a touch of matchstick and hay on opening, leading to youthfully robust, rich flavors of apple, melon and pear.
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.