Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another stunner is the 2014 Chardonnay Sugar Shack. This wine, which was harvested August 18, 2014, was one of the earliest picks Mark Aubert had ever done. The wine offers up great fruit, which includes notes of pineapple, green apple, honeysuckle and peach marmalade. It is full-bodied with exceptional purity, lingering across the palate. Drink it over the next 7-12 years. This is the only vineyard for Chardonnay that he has in Napa Valley.
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James Suckling
Layered and cool with aniseed, flint and green apple. Full body, intense fruit and a long and flavorful finish. Drink now.
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Vinous
Here in just its third vintage, 2014 Chardonnay Sugar Shack is rich and deeply colored. Dried apricot, hazelnut, spice, chamomile, baked apple tart, candied orange peel and lightly honeyed noted are all signatures of a wine that is peaking. There's still plenty of density, so this may hang on for some time. All of the textural richness and oiliness of Sugar Shack is very much in evidence.
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.
Nearly a northern extension of Napa Valley, Alexander Valley starts just north of the small, Knights Valley, and is just a few minutes drive from the Napa town of Calistoga. It is Sonoma County’s hottest AVA. But the Russian River, which runs through the valley, creates cooler pockets and its soft, alluvial soil is ideal for grape growing, especially Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact, some believe that Alexander Valley Cabernets truly rival the best from Napa Valley and many of the heavy-hitter producers have largely invested here.
In addition to Cabernet Sauvignon, which makes up over 50% of plantings, Merlot and old vine Zinfandel thrive here. Ample, fleshy Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc dominate white wine production. Some old-vine plantings of Grenache have also been discovered and more recent experiments with Sangiovese and Barbera show great promise.