Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Salted cashew and toasted seed aromas meet with baked orange and light melon on the nose of this estate bottling. There's opulence on the palate, where salted cream and seared citrus flavors make for a broad, mouth-filling wine.
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Wine & Spirits
Fleshy at first and overtly creamy, this fills out with air into caramel, nutty, buttery (diacetyl) notes. It’s an amber wine with lemon curd and lees flavors, oak-driven but not overly so.
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Wine Spectator
This white is elegant and refined, offering fresh Sumo orange, tangerine and lemon zest flavors that are forward and juicy, with hints of lime blossom and ripe melon, plus notes of toasted green tea that linger on the finish. Drink now. 1,692 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.
Part of the larger Central Coast AVA, the valley was historically an important source of grapes for Almaden Vineyards before it was acquired by Constellation Brands in the 1980s. At 1,100 feet, the San Andreas Fault divides the valley so that one side is granite and sandstone, and the other is granite and limestone. Its position along the San Andreas fault makes the region well suited for excellent Central Coast wine production. Top varietals include Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling, and rose.