Winemaker Notes
Straw yellow color with aromas of lemon drop, Reinette apple skin and fresh herbs (chamomile). Full-bodied and concentrated, ‘Ma Princesse’ consistently displays a creamy and rich texture which coats the palate for a very long time. Built to age gracefully for over a decade, this wine will gain being cellared for six months to a year before starting to reveal itself.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Chardonnay Ma Princesse comes from the Ritchie Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, which is planted to the old Wente clone of Chardonnay and produces small clusters with tiny little berries. In the glass, the wine reveals notes of preserved citrus, wet stone, wildflowers, vanilla bean spice, and fresh pear. Medium to full-bodied, it’s more linear in feel, with more citrus on the palate, although it retains beautiful, fresh, floral notes through its long finish. It carries fantastic tension, concentration, and elegance, with persistent energy driving the wine. It’s phenomenal and is only going to improve with another few years in the cellar. Drink 2024-2036.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourced from the justly famed Ritchie Vineyard, Morlet's 2021 Chardonnay Ma Princesse features a big, wonderfully expressive nose bursting with scents of ripe melon, pear and pineapple. It's full-bodied and opulent, ripe and weighty, but it marries that to amazing drive and energy on the long, harmonious finish.
-
Vinous
The 2021 Chardonnay Ma Princesse is racy and super-expressive right out of the gate. Lemon confit, marzipan, passionfruit and sweet spice are beautifully layered. There's lovely mid-palate oiliness and texture here, along with plenty of richness, but no excess weight. This is the most overt of Luc and Jodie Morlet's Chardonnays.
-
James Suckling
This bold, rich and aromatic white from the noted Ritchie Vineyard gives luscious butterscotch and toasted almond flavors over vivid Bosc pear notes. So full-bodied, broad and nicely viscous in texture. Made from 50-year-old vines of the Old Wente selection. Very long, creamy finish.
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 standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.