Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
One of the standouts is the 2017 Chardonnay Ross Station Estate and it has an incredibly polished, elegant, regal style as well as notes of tangerine, white peach, flowers, and honeysuckle. The texture here is first rate and it just glides over the palate with both freshness and richness. It's already drinking beautifully yet should cruise for 7-8 years or longer in cool cellars.
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Wine Spectator
Well-sculpted and elegant, featuring concentrated baked apple, pear tart and white berry flavors that are layered with richly spiced and toasty notes. The plush finish is pure, offering seductive sage cream and honeyed details. Drink now through 2025.
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James Suckling
A white with a vertical concentration to the palate of dried apples, honey and stones. Medium-to full-bodied, bright and lively with vivid acidity and focus. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Ross Station Estate comes from old Wente grown in Goldridge. "This is the first fruit we harvested in 2017," Paul Hobbs says. "We harvested this right as that heat was gearing up before Labor Day." It has a lovely, restrained perfume of nutmeg-laced cream, white blossoms, button mushroom and a core of white peaches and apricot with touches of dried orange peel and crushed shell. It’s medium to full-bodied, rounded and lusciously fruited with fantastic layering of spiced fruits, mineral, savory and earth character, refreshed by vibrant acidity and finishing long on a honeyed note. 339 cases were made.
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.