Winemaker Notes
Exuding citrus aromas of lemon zest and kumquat along with green apple, green pear, lemon verbena, a hazelnut note and a slight brioche character, this Chardonnay is classic Hanzell. The palate reflects the nose, with the addition of honeysuckle and thyme, ending with a bright, mouthwatering, elegant finish. Vibrant and delicious now, this wine will surely evolve beautifully in the cellar for decades to come.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This impressive white delivers a core of quince, lemon rind and apple that blends with accents of white flower and lemongrass. Crisp acidity drives the freshness on the textured palate, offering elegance and plenty of layers of intrigue. This will do well in the cellar.
Cellar Selection
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chardonnay offers subdued notes of pear blossom, cheese rind, cremini mushroom, fresh apples, hay and clover honey with baker's yeast hints. The light to medium-bodied palate begins minerally before fleshing out to honeyed fruits lifted by juicy acidity and finishing long and nutty. This took a long time to come around after being open, so give it more time in bottle or a long decant.
Rating: 93+
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James Suckling
An attractive nose, showing fresh pears and grilled lemons with a light, smoky edge. The palate has a taut and juicy feel with pear-skin and peach flavors to close. Drink now.
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Wine Spectator
A refined style, with flavors of baked pear and apple pastry, showing citrusy hints. Spicy and juicy midpalate, offering touches of toffee on the finish.
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.
Perhaps the most historically significant appellation in Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley is home to both Buena Vista winery, California's oldest commercial winery, and Gundlach Bundschu winery, California's oldest family-run winery.
It is also one of the more geologically and climactically diverse districts. The valley includes and overlaps four distinct Sonoma County sub-appellations, including Carneros, Moon Mountain District, Sonoma Mountain and Bennett Valley. With mountains, benchlands, plains, abundant sunshine and the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific, this appellation can successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and most notably, Zinfandel all thrive here. Ancient Zinfandel vines over 100 years old produce small crops of concentrated, spicy fruit, which in turn make some of the Valley's most unique wines. These can also be made as “field blends” (wines made from a mix of grape varieties grown in the same vineyard) along with Petite Sirah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet.