Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Plenty of cooked apples, dried daffodils, Chinese plums, cantaloupe melon, vanilla and cloves. Medium-bodied with a round mouthfeel that’s complemented by bright acidity and a tight frame of phenolics. Drink now.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Chardonnay Olivet Lane Vineyard has slightly more depth and richness than the Russian River Selection as well as higher acidity. Stone fruits, white peach, crushed rocks, and buttered citrus notes all flow to a racy, tight, vibrant Chardonnay that has good fruit and depth on the palate. It’s going to benefit from a year or two of bottle age and drink nicely for 4-6 years.
Rating: 91+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chardonnay Olivet Lane delivers expressive apricot, pink grapefruit and apple pie notes with touches of struck flint, marzipan and beeswax. Medium-bodied with a wicked backbone of racy acid, it features loads of citrus and stone fruit flavors and a long, zesty finish.
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Wine Spectator
Pure and focused, with an engaging minerality to the well-structured McIntosh apple, Asian pear and lemon-lime flavors. Shows juicy crispness on the finish, with notes of crushed savory herb. Drink now through 2023.
Imagine a winemaking region just hours north of San Francisco rich in diversity and distinctive terroir, a well-kept secret tucked amongst the towering redwoods and influenced by the Pacific Ocean. Over half a century ago, pioneering growers recognized the Russian River Valley as a place that just might produce Pinot Noir that rivaled the villages of Burgundy. After decades of winemaking and selective planting, their valley has become internationally known for producing Pinot that is distinctly American and reflects the natural influences of their terroir.
Gary Farrell Winemaker, Theresa Heredia, grape growers and other winemakers within the Russian River Valley have always recognized that certain regions of the valley produced distinctly different wines. Since the 2014 Vintage, they have been monitoring whether characteristics like aroma, texture and others can be attributed to specific sections of the Valley. This deep dive into Russian River Pinot Noir has become the Neighborhoods Initiative that is also a hallmark of their Single Vineyard winemaking, and their elevated Salon experiences.
The concept of a neighborhood is truly an American idea, and is more concerned with defining the characteristics a specific cluster of vineyards produce than defining the geographical boundaries. It’s both a sense of community and terroir at the same 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.
A standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.