Winemaker Notes
Aromas of honeysuckle and candied lemon with hint of butterscotch. As you sip the wine, it is crisp and vibrant, with natural acidity melding seamlessly with the rich, textured palate. This juxtaposition of bright acid and lush viscosity continues throughout the long finish, which is lively, fruit forward, and satiny.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Plenty of lush citrus aromas followed by golden apples, bitter nuts, and beeswax with saffron and saline undertones. Medium body with bright acidity. Zesty wine layered with savory spices and minerality.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A savory profile emerges in the 2021 Chardonnay Wildcat Mountain, revealing fresh aromas of sea spray, yellow flowers, and golden apple. This medium to full-bodied white offers a silky mouthfeel, with good freshness of acidity and notes of fresh pear, honeyed lemon, and almond. It’s a very attractive wine to drink over the next several years. Though The Key may be the most complete wine in the lineup, I prefer this style for more regular drinking.
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.