Winemaker Notes
What a tremendous site for cool climate, elegant Chardonnay. This 8-acre parcel is just south of the town of Sebastopol was planted to Chardonnay in collaboration with the Klopp family. Now in our fourth year with this site, this wine is super aromatic with all manner of citrus, nutmeg and stone fruit on the nose. On the palate, it’s decidedly medium-bodied with crisp acidity, minerality and notes of chamomile and apple.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A robust version, offering grilled lemon, pear and apple flavors, plus a ripe melon note and a drizzle of wildflower honey. Ending with grace notes of spices, toast and buttery shortbread, this shows terrific persistence on the finish. Drink now. 300 cases made.
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.