Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
A super-solid effort, the 2013 Fort Ross Chardonnay is from a cool new AVA (1/13/12), Fort Ross-Seaview, that was established after 10 years of in-fighting, the AVA is a part of the "true" Sonoma Coast! Medium straw color, alluring aromas of ripe peach and apple skin, with a suggestion of cream, excellent depth and purity, surely benefited from its oak interplay; medium bodied, layered on the palate, with a solid firmness; dry, medium acidity, well balanced; fine ripe fruit and sweet cream in the flavors; medium to long finish, layered aftertaste. (Tasted: August 24, 2015, San Francisco, CA)
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.
On the far western edge of the larger Sonoma Coast appellation, the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA hugs right up against the Pacific coast. Vineyards, planted at rugged elevations between 920 to 1,800 feet, occupy only two percent of the total land in the AVA. Fort Ross-Seaview growers believe that the region boasts an ideal mix of sunshine, cool air and beneficial stress for producing high quality Chardonnay and Pinot noir.