Winemaker Notes
Crafted from this small hillside since the founding of the winery in 1991, the new vintage brings a bright golden-yellow to the glass and aromas of Bartlett pear, lemon meringue, and brioche emerge followed by complex layers of baking spice, Mandarin orange, and white chalk minerality on the palate. The texture is refined showing depth of flavor and an overall freshness that’s framed by a lively acidity that lengthens the wine’s finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lovely aromas of lemon leaf, persimmon and small white flowers. Full-bodied, showing great density of flavor with texture and weight. The palate is effortless and just washes over you with fresh citrus fruit, kaffir lime and round flavors of barley. Pleasant, subtle note of smoke at the finish. Excellent wine. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Chardonnay Richard Dinner Vineyard is shy to begin, taking time to reveal saline, fresh quince, crushed nuts and white blossoms. The palate is medium-bodied and delicately styled, with pure fruits and bright mineral character, and its flavors linger for an extraordinarily long finish.
Rating: 95+
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Wine Spectator
Elegant and well-spiced, with a silky texture to the baked apple, ripe citrus and dried pear flavors that are well-structured. Shows toasty and buttery accents on the contoured finish.
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.
Defined more by altitude than geographical outline, the Sonoma Mountain appellation occupies elevations between 400 and 1,200 feet on the northern and eastern slopes of the actual Sonoma Mountain and is part of the greater Sonoma Valley appellation. The mountain reaches 2,400 feet; its hills separate the cooling winds of Petaluma Gap from the Sonoma Valley.
On a cooler western flank, Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Syrah enjoy a great deal of success. Vineyards on its warmer, eastern side, interspersed with heavily forested areas, tend to include Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, and Syrah. Given its complexity of topography and mesoclimates, Sonoma Mountain excels with a wide range of grape varieties.