Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The nearly perfect 2012 Chardonnay Belle Côte boasts an amazing perfume of pineapple marmalade, tangerine oil, wet rocks and citrus blossoms. This full-bodied, stunning Chardonnay has a creamy texture as well as fabulous underlying mineral characteristics. One of the great wines of the vintage, this amazing Chardonnay can be enjoyed over the next decade or more.
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James Suckling
Aromas of flint, pineapples, sliced apples, white peaches, pears and light honey. Ginger. A full-bodied, broad-shouldered white. It turns linear and shows lots of licorice and aniseed character. Drink or hold.
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 small and picturesque valley separating Napa Valley on its south border and Alexander Valley to its north, Knights Valley excels in similar varieties as the two aforementioned appellations, namely red Bordeaux varieties and blends, as well as Sauvignon blanc. Originally established by Beringer Vineyards, today several outstanding producers claim acreage here. The circadian cooling effects of the nearby Pacific Ocean create a nighttime respite for vineyards during the hot growing season.