Winemaker Notes
The 2017 vintage of Mayacamas Chardonnay — our team's fifth — showcases both site and vintage beautifully. Aromas of ripe lemon honeysuckle and crushed oyster shell highlight the nose. On the palate, the wine has the classic Mayacamas acidity and is framed nicely by the textural richness in the mid-palate that comes from a warm vintage.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very pretty, old-school style with sliced-lemon, apple and candied-lemon character. Creamy undertones. Full-bodied, tight and dense. Creamy yet tangy finish. Drink or hold.
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Tasting Panel
At an elevation of more than 1,800 feet, Mayacama’s mountain terroir is fitting for this edgy, lean white. Its fifth vintage shows acidity that’s pure and focused, no small feat given the year’s warm conditions. Sourced primarily from 40-year-old dry-farmed vines, the wine was aged on the lees for seven months, followed by 12 months of barrel aging and six months more in stainless steel. Notes of oregano and chamomile interlace with minerality as a lemon tartness keeps it fresh and crisp to the finish.
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Wine Spectator
Vibrantly fresh, with well-proportioned flavors of McIntosh apple, Asian pear and dried quince, backed by fresh acidity. The minerally finish lingers with good snap. Drink now through 2024.
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.
Centered at the peak for which it is named, Mount Veeder is Napa’s largest sub-AVA. But even though the entire appellation spreads over 16,000 acres, vineyards cover a mere 1,000. Scattered among Douglas firs and bristlecone pines, Mount Veeder vineyards extend south from the upper elevations of the Mayacamas Mountains—the highest point at 2,400 feet—to the border of the Carneros region. Less than 25 wineries produce wine from Mount Veeder fruit.
Winemaking began early in this appellation. In 1864, Captain Stelham Wing presented the first Mount Veeder wine to the Napa County Fair; it came from today’s Wing Canyon Vineyard. Prohibition, of course, halted winemaking and viticulture wasn’t revitalized until the founding of Mayacamas Vineyards in 1951 and Bernstein Vineyards in 1964.
The Bernstein Vineyards was actually home to the first Petit Verdot in California, planted in 1975. Today most of the Petit Verdot in Napa Valley originates from this vineyard.
Rocky volcanic clay and ancient seabed matter dominate Mount Veeder soils—perfect for Bordeaux varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot enjoy spectacular success. These varieties produce wines rich in brambly blackberry and black cherry fruit with herbal and floral aromatics. Structures are moderate to assertive and wines have great staying power.
Chardonnay from Mount Veeder is lush, full and balanced mineral and fresh citrus flavors.