Winemaker Notes
The 2020 Arsonist Chardonnay is rich and luscious and offers plenty of butterscotch, Crème brûlée, vanilla and tropical fruit. An underlayer of toasty oak and caramel from barrel aging adds complexity.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Matchbook Arsonist Chardonnay offers a powerful expression of this grape variety. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of apples, toast, and oak. Enjoy it with grilled pork chops in a cream sauce. (Tasted: November 4, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
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.