Winemaker Notes
Hudson Chardonnay is sourced from unique sites on our Napa ranch, planted to heritage selections prized for their innate minerality, small berries and brilliant acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is comprised of a blend of four different vineyards from Hudson’s Home Ranch and Henry Road Ranch, all planted to Shot Wente clone. It was barrel fermented with natural yeast in French oak, 60% new, and aged for 12 months in barrel. The 2016 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard opens with wonderfully gregarious honeyed peaches, ripe pears and candied ginger notes plus touches of almond croissant, beeswax and orange blossoms. Medium to full-bodied, the palate reveals the most seductive satiny texture, packed with layers of stone fruit and savory flavors, finishing very long and very spicy. 901 cases were made.
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Wine Spectator
A spicy, hedonistic white, filled with buttery richness to the apple pastry, mango and roasted pineapple flavors. Meringue notes and hints of cocoa powder emerge on the finish. Drink now through 2023.
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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.