Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A beautiful, layered chardonnay with sliced green apple, pear and hints of vanilla and crushed stone. Full-bodied with bright fruit and hints of tropical fruit, such as mangos, citrus and apples. Complex and beautiful. Second year in production. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay W.S. Keyes was fermented and aged for 22 months in French oak barrels, 11% new. There was no malolactic. It sashays out of the glass with gorgeous lemon tart, grapefruit and white peach notes plus hints of orange blossoms, fresh ginger and toasted almonds. Medium-bodied, elegant and refreshing, it delivers intense citrus and spice layers with a long, tangy finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
You don’t see many Chardonnays from Howell Mountain, but don’t let that stop you, the 2018 Chardonnay W.S. Keyes Vineyard is terrific and well worth seeking out. Revealing a medium/lighter gold hue as well as an exotic nose of orange blossom, melon, honeysuckle, and white flowers, this beauty hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a textured, rounded mouthfeel, integrated acidity, and a great finish. This rich, textured Chardonnay stays nicely balanced and is certainly a joy to drink. It picks up a touch of hazelnut on the finish with time in the glass and should drink nicely for 4-5 years.
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.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon is the star of this part of Napa’s rugged, eastern hills, but Zinfandel was responsible for giving the Howell Mountain growing area its original fame in the late 1800s.
Winemaking in Howell Mountain was abandoned during Prohibition, and wasn’t reawakened until the arrival of Randy Dunn, a talented winemaker famous for the success of Caymus in the 1970s and 1980s. In the early eighties, he set his sights on the Napa hills and subsequently astonished the wine world with a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Shortly thereafter Howell Mountain became officially recognized as the first sub-region of Napa Valley (1983).
With vineyards at 1,400 to 2,000 feet in elevation, they predominantly sit above the fog line but the days in Howell Mountain remain cooler than those in the heart of the valley, giving the grapes a bit more time on the vine.
The Howell Mountain AVA includes 1,000 acres of vineyards interspersed by forestlands in the Vaca Mountains. The soils, shallow and infertile with good drainage, are volcanic ash and red clay and produce highly concentrated berries with thick skins. The resulting wines are full of structure and potential to age.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petite Sirah thrive in this sub-appellation, as well as its founding variety, Zinfandel.