Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Leading off the two Chardonnay, the 2017 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast reveals a medium gold color as well as rich, Burgundian notes of sautéed orchard fruits, flower oil, toasted almonds, and white flowers. Nicely balanced, with building richness and good acidity, it's a textbook, high-quality Sonoma Coast Chardonnay to enjoy over the coming 4-5 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Tight, tart layers of stone fruit and apple highlight an increasingly soft, appealing midpalate. It shows integrated oak, tannin and weight for a highly appealing result.
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 vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.