Winemaker Notes
The green and golden fruit comes from thirty-two-year-old vines, organically farmed and carefully harvested by hand. Whole-cluster pressed, the juice is fermented in barrel, with only a small percentage of new French oak. They discourage the malo-lactic fermentation to preserve the vibrant natural acidity, pulling the wine together with a narrow focus. Aging on the lees for ten months, with bâttonage, broadens the mouthfeel and adds length. n the end, this combination makes for a wine that is compelling and hard to resist.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A beautiful chardonnay with cooked apple, dried mango and mineral character with a pumice undertone. It’s full-bodied with solid tension and a curated finish. Extremely polished and focused. Tensioned. No malo. Made from organic grapes. Drink now.
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Wine Spectator
Fresh and expressive, featuring Honeycrisp apple, yuzu and lemon blossom flavors and a hint of marzipan and nutmeg, this shows wonderful restraint and focus. The long, juicy finish reveals a hint of fresh-grated ginger.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Carbone's 2020 Chardonnay is all Clone 4, planted in the 1980s. Barrel fermented and aged using a small proportion of new French oak (10-15%), the wine offers up subtle notes of roasted cashews, plus fruit that ranges from pineapple and melon to lemon and lime. It's medium-bodied, modestly silky and textured yet clean and refreshing, as malolactic fermentation is blocked. Best After 2022
Favia Erickson Winegrowers is a collaboration between Annie Favia and Andy Erickson. Their philosophy is simple: create soulful wines that express the true nature of the vineyards from which they come. Annie and Andy focus on finding unique vineyard sites with soils, climate and aspects ideal for growing exquisite wine grapes, and develop strong relationships with their winegrowers to perfect viticultural practices. In the winery, they carefully coax the grapes into wine. Gentle handling, minimal intervention, and strict monitoring of the wine allow our grapes to speak for themselves.
Ultimately, Favia Erickson Winegrowers unites science, art and nature to produce unparalleled wines, each with its own distinct character.
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.
Situated in the southeastern corner of Napa Valley in the Vaca range, the vineyards of the Coombsville AVA enjoy a long growing season mitigated by cool, San Pablo Bay fog.