Winemaker Notes
Singing Tree Chardonnay is light straw in color. The aroma is citrus, white flower, and passionfruit. Chalky and mineral. There is also a little vanilla from the lees aging. The palate is medium-bodied and has a balanced acidity. It is dry with a flint-like minerality that goes on. Pear and nectarine flavors and, again, a sub- tropical finish. It pairs well with scallops, mussels, and other shellfish. Chicken, especially in creamy sauces and roast chicken.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This bright and focused Chardonnay delivers aromas of citrus, white flowers and rocky minerality on the nose, while the palate displays flavors of fresh lemon, green apple and lemon balm before a finish with echoes of salty lime peel. Nice value here.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2023 Goldschmidt Singing Tree Chardonnay is smooth and pleasing on the palate. This wine offers aromas and flavors of rustic earth, dried peach skin, and subtle candied ginger notes. Enjoy it with Cantonese cold-boiled chicken in a salt and scallion dipping sauce. (Tasted: March 18, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
Yolyn and Nick Goldschmidt are owner/vintners, and Nick is the winemaker. The winery offices are located in Healdsburg. Both originally from New Zealand, Yolyn and Nick have spent time living and working in the wine areas of New Zealand, Australia and South America.
Their focus is Cabernet Sauvignon from two prestigious vineyards in Northern California — Vyborny Vineyard, located on the northeastern slope in the Alexander Valley, and Game Ranch, located on an old river bottom on the eastern bench of the Silverado Trail. Both showcase the optimum silhouettes of Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley and Napa Valley.
The rolling hills and gentle slopes near the town of Sebastopol were once home to apple orchards filled with songbirds. By the early 1990’s though, most of the orchards were replanted with grapes. The factors that define a quality Chardonnay vineyard are numerous, but Nick Goldschmidt believes matching varietal and rootstock to the right vineyard site yields the most flavorful grapes.
High quality grapes grow only under certain optimum soil conditions, including a balance of nutrients within certain clays. These clay minerals play a critical role, as they can retain water and act as harbors for nutrients better than other soil types. Clays that offer slow nutrient transfer to grape vine plants are preferred. The highest quality grapes grow on the fine-grained, shallow marine quartz sandstones of the Wilson Grove Formation, where Singing Tree is located. These formations tend to produce soils that are well balanced in nutrient content and water retention.
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.