Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The UV-SL Vineyard is another Sonoma Coast vineyard planted with old Wente clones on the classic deep Goldridge sandy soils of the region. The 2013 Chardonnay UV-SL, with loads of nectarine, tangerine oil, mango and caramelized citrus, has a super-core of fruit and tips the scales at 15.8% alcohol. It also offers great structure and a liquid stone minerality. This big, fascinating wine was totally closed when I first tasted it, but is now expressing itself in a dramatic and compelling way. Its should drink well for 10-12+ years.
Rating: 97+ -
Wine Spectator
A kiss of toasty oak leads to a complex mix of green apple, citrus, honeydew and spice flavors, coming across as ripe, sleek and refined. Ends with a touch of honeysuckle. Drink now through 2021.
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.