Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Silky and elegant with lovely texture and precise flavors of tangy citrus and smooth vanilla oak.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Chardonnay Alder Springs Vineyard displays expressive grapefruit, yuzu zest and orange blossoms notes with touches of cedar, croissant and beeswax. Medium-bodied, fine, fresh and with lovely toasty/savory flavors coming through on the palate, it offers satisfying length and lovely harmony.
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Wine Enthusiast
Almost as buttery as a croissant, this full-bodied and extremely flavorful wine has an aroma like butterscotch, flavor like melted butter and vanilla, and a lingering pastry-like accent on the finish. The texture is buttery, too, coating the palate and revealing layers of richness.
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 large and diverse appellation within California’s North Coast AVA, Mendocino is home to several smaller sub-regions—most notably the Anderson Valley. This scenic region, with rolling hills covered in redwood forests as well as vineyards, is one of the world’s top producers of certified organically-grown grapes. Due to wide geographical and climatic variation, a vast array of wine styles can be found here.