Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The producer has been working with this vineyard since 1990 and this vintage, like so many others, is just a stunner, lovely and inviting, crisp and well-crafted with a zip of minerality. Floral honeysuckle and beeswax rise on the nose, opening the way for tastes of mandarin orange, ginger and toffee. Drink now, or if you can possibly contain yourself, through 2023. Cellar Selection
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard (1,100 cases produced) is made from the Hyde-Old Wente clone. From sandy, clay, loam soils, it offers up aromas of honeysuckle, white peach, delicate pineapple and subtle oak. Medium to full-bodied with great acidity as well as beautiful purity and freshness, it should drink nicely for 5-7 years, perhaps longer.
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Decanter
Charming and perfumed nose with ripe Sicilian lemons, honey and white flowers. Displays superb grip on the mid-palate. Satisfying acidity keeps tension high and stitches the wine together beautifully onto a long, harmonious finish.
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Wine & Spirits
A savory chardonnay with baked pear flavors just edging out the earthiness, the finish of this wine takes on the sweet scent of a root cellar. Leesy, soft and round, this is a balanced wine to serve with roast pork.
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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.