Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Enormously ripe and rich - this is honeyed, with citrus and tropical fruit flavors. It;s creamy, too, with a butterscotch accent. The magic comes on the finish with a swirl of acidity and dry mineral. Decadent but never cloying, this defines the ripe California style.
-
Wine & Spirits
A long, mostly cool growing season with plenty of moisture in the soil produced this fragrant Chardonnay. Its green apple fruit shows oak in savory earth tones rather than sweet toast; the oak accentuates the floral character of the wine, bringing acacia flowers to mind. It finishes bright and zesty, leaving the mouth refreshed. Serve it with grilled prawns.
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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.