Winemaker Notes
The 2022 Rued Vineyard Chardonnay has an appealing nose of lemon curd, pastry crust, yellow peach, Jordan almond, straw, and honeysuckle.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A refined and beautiful chardonnay from old vines, with a unique texture from the light tannins that give framing and tension to the wine. Medium-bodied with a tight and focused palate and true excellence on the length. Dried apples, oyster shells and white flowers. Structure and tension. Give it time, but it’s already fantastic and racy. Drink or hold.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Made in a bright, racy, classy style, the 2022 Chardonnay Rued Vineyard has pretty lemon and minty, flower notes as well as medium-bodied richness and depth on the palate. With bright acidity, a balanced, elegant mouthfeel, and outstanding length, it should have a solid decade of prime drinking.
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Wine Spectator
A perfumed white, offering notes of lemon blossoms and honeysuckle up front. Pear, lemon and Honeycrisp apple details are crisp at the core. Fresh and juicy, with lemon thyme and a touch of crunchy sea salt lingering on the fresh finish. Drink now. 338 cases made.
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.