Winemaker Notes
The name Maritima is Portuguese for maritime which is a defining feature of the vineyard, pressed up against the Pacific Ocean nestled in the cool and damp marine layer. This translates to the wine in the bright and youthful mint, bay leaf, lemon curd and green banana notes and the fresh mouth-watering acidity. Draped over the spine is a silky mid-palate highlighting curd, flint, and salt notes. The finish is quite long with aromas building with time and leaving an almost metallic aroma on the back palate.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A stunning coastal Chardonnay, the Maritima Estate is a new nomenclature for the Estate Chardonnay. It is evocative of the Amalfi coast, Sicilian lemons, salty air, and white flowers. The palate balances all the generosity of juicy lemons with a tingly mineral character. Gorgeous lemon grilled, fresh mint, and mouthfuls of minerality, crushed slate with stone smoky flint.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A Portuguese name, the 2022 Chardonnay Maritma Estate is a bright silver yellow color and shows off notes of sea spray, ripe citrus blossom, ripe apples, melon rind, and almond. Full-bodied, it has elegant charm through its long finish, with notes of marzipan lasting after the wine is gone. It is highly refined and has a great deal of high-quality feel. Drink it over the next 10-12 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Chardonnay Estate Maritimo (formerly known as the Peay Estate Chardonnay), offers well-integrated tones of matchstick and roasted almonds, which complement a core of yellow peach, dried jasmine, beeswax and an exotic note of tangerine oil. The medium-bodied palate balances generous fruit and bright acidity, and it has a long, flavorful finish. It's a touch riper than in other vintages and offers immediate drinking potential.
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.