Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Made from some of Sonoma County’s oldest Chardonnay plantings, this is an effusively floral wine, rounded and decadent on the midpalate, with a taste of fresh peach and melon. Fennel and vanilla make appearances, with the finish distinctly tropical.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Chardonnay Dutton Ranch shows much higher acid profiles, plenty of delicate, fresh pineapple, honeysuckle, pear and lemon oil notes. Of all of the Dutton Ranch Chardonnays, this comes across more like a Grand Cru from Chablis, given its wet stone, gravelly, minerality. A laid back, reticent, but impressively endowed Chardonnay with great acid, the high yields of the year may have rendered wines with less concentration and drama than the 2012, but it comes across a completely different animal, even though the winemaking and vineyard source are identical to its older siblings. Drink it over the next 5-7 years.
Rating: 92+
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.