Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Cut from the same cloth yet even more exotic and marine-influenced, the 2018 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard sports an incredible bouquet of crushed lemons, shrimp broth, iodine, lite gunpowder, salty minerality, and white flowers. This gives way to a medium to full-bodied, elegant yet powerful Chardonnay that has perfectly integrated acidity, flawless balance, and a great, great finish. Flirting with perfection, it should merit a triple-digit rating in 2-4 years and see its 20th birthday in fine form. It's an incredible wine!
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard opens with gunflint and iodine aromas at this stage, with gentler layers of white peach, citrus peel, honey and nuts. In the mouth, it’s medium-bodied and uber silky, with toasty, nutty character, seamless freshness and a long, flinty finish.
Rating: 95(+) -
Wine Spectator
This shows enveloping richness, with intensely toasty aromas leading into structured apple and peach pastry flavors that feature vibrant savory accents. The structured finish is long, crunchy and well-spiced. Drink now through 2026.
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.