Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This vineyard is west of the town of Sonoma, at the base of Sonoma Mountain, where the crushed rock and volcanic soils were formed by a landslide. It’s planted to Clone 4, which Steve Matthiasson likes for its acid retention. He harvests most of the vineyard early, leaving 30 percent of the fruit on the vine to pick late, and adds that riper juice to the barrels to extend the fermentation. Then he allows the wine to undergo malolactic fermentation and 18 months of aging in barrel without racking or stirring. Its flavor depth comes through in notes of orange, gold and yellow fruits, with ripeness that adds earthy complexity but doesn’t diminish the fresh clarity of the scent. Serve this at cellar temperature with sea bass roasted with chanterelles.
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.