Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
As ever, this is a superb chardonnay with limes and lemons, beautifully blended with cloves and spices from the oak, as well as slate undertones. The angular acidity guides a pointed and tightly woven palate to a minerally and wonderfully satisfying conclusion. What a slender, elegant wine. If only more chardonnay in Napa tasted like this (and cost as much)! Approachable now, but better to hold for a decade and watch this evolve.
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Wine Enthusiast
A reduced oaky entry leads to edgy citrus-driven acidity and a high-strung, stony briny mineral character that beguiles. Green apple, quince and Meyer lemon offer subtle fruit elements that rise up to the overall earthiness.
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.
Just northeast of Napa city, Atlas Peak boasts some of Napa Valley’s highest elevation vineyards. Here the intense sunlight coupled with cool, nighttime temperatures produce grapes that are perfectly ripe, balanced and concentrated. The appellation is rich in volcanic soils and excels in the production of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.