Winemaker Notes
Positive yellow/gold color. Aromas of Asian pear, toasted brioche and peach blossom. There’s a natural richness to the wine that drives the deep, floral and ripe stone fruit flavors leading to a lingering crisp finish. Produced by Donald Patz from 50 year old Chardonnay vines.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a rich, old-vine wine with lots of dried apple and honey, as well as new-wood barrel-infused flavors of toffee. It’s full and layered with an oily texture and extremely long and intense at the end. Opulent style and delicious. It has really opened with age. Drink now or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is made from a single-vineyard site planted to 50-year-old vines, some of the oldest in the appellation. It sings in creamy texture and opulent layers of baked apple, brioche and Meyer lemon mousse, finding a balance within bolts of fresh, vibrant acidity and a mineral taste of stone.
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 standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.