Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a vineyard that seems to do well no matter who is making the wine, the 2004 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard is tropical fruit-dominated with classic California notes of creme brulee, roasted pineapples, hazelnuts, brioche, and plenty of spice. It’s a stunningly full-bodied, exotic, in-your-face offering with terrific underlying acidity. This savory, fresh, vibrant, well-delineated white should last for 7-8 years. This Chardonnay tends to be aged in 100% new oak (which is totally concealed) and is bottled without fining or filtration. Consequently, if it has just been shipped or moved, it can reveal a slight haze.
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Wine Spectator
Distinctive for its creamy pear, hazelnut, green apple and honeydew melon flavors that are silky and refined, finishing with a long, lingering yet delicate aftertaste. Deceptively concentrated.
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 vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.