Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
An overt and attractive toasted-oak aroma leads to assertive, smoky, buttery flavors in this traditional reserve-style California Chardonnay. Full bodied, it pulls out all the stops for a grand expression of pear, toasted almond and nutmeg flavors that are backed by ample acidity.
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.
Mitigated by mild Sacramento River Delta breezes, the Dunnigan Hills appellation is in the northwest portion of Yolo County and has a Mediterranean climate.