Winemaker Notes
Aubert refers to this wine as the "chameleon," as it evolves and morphs in each glass. The combination of climate, soil, and rare clones planted at UV-SL produce kaleidoscopic, site-driven nuances.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A barrel sample, the 2019 Chardonnay UV-SL opens with compelling floral notes—honeysuckle and lime blossoms—over a core of red apples, green guava and honeydew melon with underlying suggestions of baking bread, allspice and marzipan. The full-bodied palate has a pleasant hint of phenolic grip to the texture with seamless acidity supporting the densely laden apple and tropical fruit flavors, finishing long and yeasty/toasty. Range: (96-98)
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James Suckling
An inviting mix of stone fruit and warm citrus with rounded notes of straw and grass. Full-bodied and light on its feet with bright acidity. There is a pleasant, tart profile to the fruit with grounded notes of nutmeg and coriander. Rather well structured. Leaves your palate buzzing. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Elegant and well-structured, this is filled with fresh acidity backing the lithe white fruit and spice flavors. There's creamy richness mid palate, with a long, caressing finish that shows accents of ginger and dried tropical fruits.
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.