Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An evolved medium gold color (no greenish hue) rivals a handful of the older looking Chardonnays that were a rarity in this vertical tasting. More honeyed brioche notes are intertwined with notions of damp earth, dense, rich fruit and tighter aromatics. Well-made, full-bodied and rich, but monolithic, it will last another 5-10 years, but I doubt it will be one of the most brilliant wines of the group.
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Wine Spectator
Creamy-textured, with hints of vanilla, anise, pear and melon that are intense, focused and concentrated. Still young and tight, showing great intensity and persistent flavors. Drink now through 2011. 335 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.