Winemaker Notes
The Ironstone Reserve Chardonnay is full of expressive flavors and aromas. Exhibiting fine mineral qualities that are a hallmark of grapes produced in the Sierra Foothills, the Reserve Chardonnay has an extremely concentrated tropical fruit flavor and rich body, with nuances of citrus, peaches, pears, stone fruits, vanilla and ripe apples. The nose opens with savory scents of caramel and vanilla followed by exotic notes of spice and melon.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
The grapes for this wine are grown in red, iron-rich soils of schist, granite, and limestone at 2,400 feet above sea level. Joan Kautz describes the use of used barrels here as “integration versus overpower,” and we can taste the subtlety imparted by 12 months of aging in French oak. Aged sur lie, the wine possesses a creamy, leesy mouthfeel up front; back-of-the-palate minerality is striking in comparison, along with a flow of pears drizzled with cinnamon honey and a squeeze of lemon.
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.
Originally a source of oenological sustenance for gold-seeking miners of the mid-1800s, the Sierra Foothills was the first region in California to produce wines from European grape varieties. Located between Sacramento and the Nevada border, this area’s immigrant settlers chose to forgo growing the then-ubiquitous Mission grape and instead brought with them superior vines from the Old World to plant alongside mining camps.
Zinfandel has been the most important variety of this region since its inception, taking on a spicy character with brambly fruit and firm structure. Amador and El Dorado counties, benefiting from the presence of volcanic and granite soils, are home to the best examples. Bold, robust Rhône Blends and Barbera are also important regional specialties.