Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Chardonnay Stone Côte was barrel fermented and matured for 14 months in 35% new French oak. It's an incredibly intense, expressive iteration with continually unfurling aromas of candied lemon, crushed stone, dried herbs, orange blossom and beeswax. The medium-bodied palate is silky yet concentrated, with loads of mineral-laced fruits, seamless acidity and a very long, layered finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Mango, banana and pear meet a rich core of crème brûlée and oak spice in this deliciously complex and concentrated wine. It has lush, plush undertones of pillowy texture and a finishing touch of orange zest that help brighten and lengthen the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Sourced from a block within the Durrell Vineyard, the 2019 Chardonnay Stone Côte Vineyard is fresh with layers of lemon curd, wet stone, and hint of flinty reduction. The palate is ripe and has a primary fruit of ripe pear up front, with a snappy citrus lift on the finish.
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Wine Spectator
Delivers a richly fruity aroma, with a lively mix of dried peach, white berry and apple pastry flavors that are well-knit and broad-textured. The plush and well-spiced finish features lots of pastry accents.
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.