Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Subtle and fresh with sliced apple, lemon curd and oyster shell aromas that follow through to a full body with a tight and focus palate of lemon pie, crushed stone and bitter lemons at the end. Some lemongrass. Flavorful, tangy and intense in the finish. Seashells at the end. From 30-year-old vines, mostly Wente, Hyde and some Dijon clones. Give this three to four years of bottle age.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Chardonnay La Carrière has pure, precise scents of white peach, meringue, matchstick and honeyed undertones. Silky, mouth-coating and seamless, it has incredibly pure, concentrated apricot and honey flavors and a long, flinty finish. Despite its generosity (you could drink it now if you wanted to), it should mature gracefully in bottle over the next decade.
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Wine Spectator
Exquisite, with power and delicacy to the butterscotch pudding, marmalade and fresh peach flavors at the core. But this white is just getting started, showing lemon zest, fresh rosemary flowers and candied ginger notes that add complexity and length, plus litsea oil accents, vibrant acidity and a supple texture.
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.