Winemaker Notes
This wine opens with complex aromas of toasted almond, butter cookie, and nutmeg. Medium bodied white wine that fill the palate with Meyer lemon, passion fruit and orange blossom flavors.
Pair the Dutton Ranch Chardonnay with grilled fish, chicken, or shellfish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Generous and intense, with pineapple, fresh lemon juice and a hint of yuzu. Packs vibrant acidity and hints of lime zest, lemon verbena and lemon thyme, which all linger with heavy verve on the mouthwatering finish, where a note of crunchy sea salt emerges.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Chardonnay Dutton Ranch has a similar golden hue and offers up aromatics of tangerine, melon rind, and delicate baking spices. Full-bodied, it displays good freshness throughout and has a rounded mouthfeel with a snappy lift of fresh lime, green apple, and toasted almond. It’s a very appealing, classic wine to drink over the next 5-6 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of ginger and lemongrass open this well-made wine. They contribute to a cohesive whole of full-bodied intensity, with crisp, fresh flavors of grapefruit, Meyer lemon and tangerine. Bright, with a lift throughout, it finishes with a rich note of toasted oak.
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.