Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Chardonnay Eastside is from a vineyard owned by Ulises Valdez, and planted with the Montrachet clone on the very low-yielding rootstock called riparia gloire. This wine displays terrific intensity, plenty of stony minerality, and great precision in its notes of subtle white peach, pineapple, almond paste, brioche and crème brûlée. This is a killer wine and a perfect example of 2013 Chardonnay at its best. I never thought this wine could hit this peak, but the proof is in the tasting, and the wine, which was somewhat shy and reserved after bottling, has truly come to life over the last three to four months. This five-acre vineyard sits on a west-facing hill on Eastside Road in the Russian River. Drink it over the next 10-12 years.
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Wine Spectator
Tight, bright and focused, with an elegant core of zesty, lemon-infused green apple, honeydew and tangerine notes, ending with a pithy grapefruit skin edge.
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.