Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
One of Russian River Valley's best efforts, the complex and generous 2015 Paul Hobbs Chardonnay excels with intense ripe core fruit, hints of exotic citrus, and nice accents of toasty oak. The wine's richness makes it a natural with lobster in a decadent cream sauce. (Tasted: August 9, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
Dried apricots, mangoes, vanilla, cream, butter, dust and peach stones. Medium to full body with fresh acidity, an oily palate and a butterscotch, deliciously oxidative finish. The ripe fruit is all there, but this has wonderful form and finesse. 11 months in barrels.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Chardonnay simply sings of honeyed peaches, spiced pears and pink grapefruit with hints of honeycomb, brioche and chopped cashews. Full-bodied, wonderfully flashy and decadent, it fills the palate with spicy stone fruits, offset by a racy backbone and finishes long and creamy.
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Wine Spectator
Zeroes in on a core of lively, citrus-infused green apple, melon, tangerine and honeydew flavors, revealing a light kiss of smoky, toasty oak that adds dimension.
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.