Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast is very, very pretty this year, with aromas of lemon curd and spiced apples, crushed stone and flowers. The palate surprises with its sheer intensity of spicy citrus flavors, satiny and super fresh, and it finishes with incredible uplift and salty tang. Despite its appellation status, this cuvée offers all the class of the rest of the Ferren portfolio. Winemaker Matt Courtney says, "I like a little bit of reduction, so I sought vineyard sites closer to the ocean, where you get a bit of that salty, iodine character. There's so much tension, the wines could be too backward and tight, and I want this to be approachable. So I use about 20% new French oak and age this for 18 months in barrel."
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.