Winemaker Notes
A luminous pale straw with a light green hue towards the rim, this coastal chardonnay offers aromatics of fresh Asian pear and white peach, intertwined with delicate notes of honeysuckle and Pink Lady apple. Flavors of guava and key lime are balanced by a crisp acidity and crunchy sea salt, framed by a soft midpalate. A refreshing arc of minerality carries through to a lively, mouthwatering finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very fresh, crisp and well balanced, offering tangy green apple and mineral flavors on a medium body. Brilliant light color. Unoaked, so the vivid fruit and almost chalky mineral notes shine through. A subtle creamy feel in the texture adds complexity and interest.
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.