Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Eric Kent impressed with a brace of lovely Pinots in the October issue of CGCW and follows up with an equally impressive encore this month with two outstanding Chardonnays. This bottling, sourced from a special block within the renowned Sangiacomo Vineyard, is a deep and beautifully balanced effort that manages to be rich, racy and layered all at once. While not in the least wanting for fruit, it transcends simple fruitiness with tantalizing highlights of fresh-baked brioche, sweet cream and toast, and it is marked by a certain minerally nerve that tags it as a serious and ageworthy working that is several years away from performing at its best.
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.