Winemaker Notes
Both fresh and exotic, the MAXEM Chardonnay has a sense of focus and intensity. The wine is rich and plush, but with flinty and lime zest tones for balance. Pineapple, honeysuckle, citrus aromatics and white peach are present in this medium to full-bodied wine; lively with vibrant acidity and a crystal clean finish. This UV Vineyard fruit is 100% Old Wente clone, planted less than six miles from the Pacific Ocean where the maritime influences surround the entire area with warm, sun-dappled afternoons refreshed by cool ocean breezes. Truly, these conditions are the perfect combination to capture the best, most exquisite Chardonnay California has to offer! Fermented in a combination of new French oak barrels and concrete tanks and then aged for 15 months, the wine displays great intensity and focus. Only 250 cases produced. This elegant wine should drink beautifully for 5-7 years, possibly longer.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made from 100% Wente Clone Chardonnay, this barrel sample of the 2019 Chardonnay UV Vineyard is set to be aged for 15 months in French oak and concrete egg. It delivers notes of crushed rocks and chalk dust over a core of white peaches and fresh pears plus a hint of toasted almonds. Medium to full-bodied, it is wonderfully expressive in the mouth with tons of stone fruit and spicy layers, finishing with great length. 250 cases are due to be made.
Barrel Sample: 94-96
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.