Winemaker Notes
This wine entices with aromas of baked apple, caramel popcorn, apricot, quince, toasted marshmallow, and buttercream. Elegant, upfront ripe flavors of Bartlett pear, peach cobbler, graham cracker, butterscotch follow with baking spice on the smooth finish.
In addition to a wide variety of appetizers, shellfish and poultry dishes, Reserve Chardonnay pairs perfectly with richer foods that enhance this fuller bodied and deliciously creamy wine.
Blend: 100% Chardonnay
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Closed at first, this full-bodied wine holds onto its Bosc pear, ginger and lightly toasted oak flavors rather tightly until further sipping and savoring brings them out. The wine is a great candidate for aging since it has the good acidity and inherent concentration to develop more interest over time.
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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.