Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Steely, high-toned and floral, in keeping with the style of winemaker Ross Cobb, this wine offers a persistence of stone and lemon peel within a framework of focused acidity. An underlying unctuousness of green apple and white peach complement and adds complexity.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from a site on the Sonoma Coast, the 2017 Chardonnay Doc's Ranch Joann's Block is a fresh, racy, vibrant Chardonnay that has some tart pineapple, citrus blossom, and salty, mineral notes as well as a medium-bodied, chiseled, yet balanced style on the palate. It's made in a leaner style yet has plenty of intensity and depth.
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James Suckling
Grilled-almond, spiced-pear and dried-peach aromas lead to a rich and fleshy palate that has a bold, peach finish and attractive grip to close. Drink now.
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.