Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Chardonnay Belle Terre Vineyard, in contrast, goes through full malolactic fermentation and sees a small amount (20%) aged in new French oak for 10 months. This shows more tropical fruit, pineapple, white peach and apple blossom notes. The wine is medium to full-bodied, with terrific fruit purity and richness. There are nearly 9,500 cases of this beauty, which sells for a song when you consider how high quality a Chardonnay it is.
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Wine Enthusiast
A vineyard-designate for the producer since 1975, the fruit shows well in this wine, an exotic tribute to tropical elements and stone fruit like peach, supported by a medium-weighted amount of vanilla oak. The ripeness of the fruit is complemented by endnotes of minerality and herbs.
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.