Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Chardonnay Zio Tony Ranch is very pretty and has real structure on the palate, with notes of ripe poached apples, sweet spices, almond, vanilla, and wet stones. The palate is full-bodied and has a supple texture, with its underlying structure coming from some oak spice.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Matured in 60% new French oak, the 2022 Chardonnay Zio Tony Ranch opens very slowly on the nose, segueing from lemon peel to panna cotta, quince and elderflower. The medium-bodied palate offers expansive, citrus-driven flavors foiled by tangy acidity, and it has a long, latent finish.
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Wine Spectator
Toasted brioche and cardamom notes are distinctive up front, with honeyed accents to the lemon curd and marmalade flavors and dried mango details at the core of this white's fleshy, rich frame. Peach pastry and salted caramel linger. Drink now. 336 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 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.