Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Caramel vanilla pudding nose is lightened and lifted by lemon flowers. The flavor is dressed in creamy crème brulee that distinguishes itself with a frisky acidity and toasted rye bread finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
From a relatively cool hillside site within the Oak Knoll District, this wine dances in lemon and green apple, completely crisp atop a fuller-bodied style embraced in oak. Luxurious on the palate, it finishes with a bite of salty brine.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
An excellent effort, the 2013 Groth exhibits bright and pleasing ripe fruit aromas and flavors. A hint of sweet oak makes it a nice choice with grilled chicken breast. Drinks well now. (Tasted: May 9, 2016, 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.
As one of Napa’s coolest sub-appellations, the area begs for diversity among its vineyards. Merlot and Chardonnay firmly compete with Cabernet Sauvignon for a place here. Some of Napa’s best Zinfandels also come from the Oak Knoll District.
Situated far in Napa’s southern end, Oak Knoll receives a strong cooling influence from both the San Pablo Bay and the Pacific Coast’s evening fog and breezes. Summer days are warm but on average ten degrees cooler than in St. Helena farther north up the valley; summer nights are chilly. A long growing season promotes for leisurely ripening of grape berries, resulting in an impressive balance of sugars, phenols and acidity.
Notable producers include Trefethen, one of the appellation’s oldest wineries, Robert Biale, legendary Zinfandel producer and Lewis Cellars, a family-run, hands-on establishment.