Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Chassagne-Montrachet-like notes of white flowers, crushed chalk, toasted brioche, honeyed orchard fruits, and a liquid rock-like minerality all emerge from the 2017 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard. A beautifully balanced, elegant white from this estate, it builds on the palate, showing a distinct salinity, medium to full-bodied richness, bright acidity, and a great, clean, blockbuster styled finish. This is pure class and just a complete, gorgeous Chardonnay to enjoy over the coming 7-8 years or more.
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Wine Enthusiast
From a far coastal site dipped in Goldridge soils at 700-feet elevation, this white is adorned in mineral-laden earth, stone and briny fog. Pear, vanilla and orange peel contrast a refined richness, buzzing in tension and acidity
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard leaps from the glass with vivacious lemon curd, key lime pie and fresh grapefruit scents plus wafts of honeysuckle, mandarin peel, struck flint and fresh ginger. Medium-bodied, the palate is packed with zip and zing, delivering layer upon layer of citrus and mineral notions, finishing on an enticing tropical fruit note.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Spectator
Features a pure-tasting core of freshly cut Asian pear and Gala apple flavors, flanked by richly spiced honey accents. Salted almond and lemon curd hints show on the plush finish. Drink now through 2024
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 vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.