Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A medium golden/yellow color, the 2023 Chardonnay Fort Ross-Seaview comes from four blocks across the estate and is savory and refreshing with notes of sea spray, lemon oils, crushed stones, graham cracker spice, and fresh pineapples, as well as subtle, salty mineral persistence. It has fantastic tension, with great length and a clean finish. Drink 2025-2037.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Matured in about 30% new French oak, the 2023 Chardonnay Fort Ross Vineyard has alluring scents of orchard fruit, toasted meringue, almonds and spice. The medium-bodied palate has a silky texture and is powerfully styled with concentrated, expansive flavors. It’s balanced by vibrant acidity and has a long, elegant finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose of this Chardonnay delivers aromas of fresh apple, toasted almond, ginger, and lime zest, while the palate delivers flavors of baked pear tart, cinnamon, popcorn, and pithy Meyer lemon along the finish.
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Wine Spectator
There’s wonderful focus to the Fuji apple, ripe pear and orange zest notes, with details of peach preserves, apricot and marmalade that linger on the finish, plus hints of spices and pinch of crunchy sea salt.
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.