Winemaker Notes
The nose has a floral top end with a whiff of smoke, mint leaf, and some Marcona almond notes that are further supported by a salty, tangy, lemony finish. The silky texture hints at richness but is held taut by bright acidity that tells you this is a Peay Chardonnay.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Peay's 2018 Chardonnay Estate is a superb wine that shows just how pedigreed Sonoma Coast Chardonnay can be. What I like most about the 2018 is its translucent personality and weightless sense of elegance. Lemon confit, white flowers, mint, white pepper and dried flowers are all finely-knit, but it is the wine's textural feel that really elevates it into the realm of the sublime. A touch of reduction adds lingers on the finish nicely, without being obtrusive.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Shy to begin, the 2018 Estate Chardonnay hints at petrichor, lime peel, roasted almonds and elderflower on the nose. The light-bodied palate is minerally to begin, bursting with juiciness and fleshing out to broad pastry and nutty flavors, finishing very long. Lovely!
Rating: 92+
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.