Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Chardonnay
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
True to its name, the Chardonnay La Carrière is full of stony, briny nuances. Citrus peel, jasmine, oyster shell and tangerine peel are all wonderfully vivid in the glass. Airy and translucent, the Carrière is all about crystalline transparency. I especially admire its energy, tension and poise. Other wines in this range offer more power and richness, but La Carrière is my personal favorite because of its intense minerality and energy.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a bright, pale yellow, hazy color the 2024 Chardonnay La Carrière is tropical and perfumed with highly floral wisteria and jasmine, as well as notes of passionfruit and lemon-lime meringue. Named after the quarry, it’s full-bodied but light on its feet, offering notes of raw honey, melon, and a pleasing salty lift on the close. As it opens, more stony earth starts to emerge through the floral profile. It’s very pretty and can drink well now or over the coming 10 years. Drink 2026-2036.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I tasted the 2024 Chardonnay La Carrière from tank shortly before it was due to be bottled. It has alluring, layered aromas of nectarine, mango, panna cotta, lime peel and seamlessly integrated, spicy oak. The full-bodied palate has a satiny texture, a dynamic interplay of ripe, expressive fruit with focused, driving acidity and a very long finish.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Wine Spectator
There’s plenty of focus and drive to this spectacular white, with a backbone of crushed rock and sea salt minerality. Fragrant white flowers including jasmine and alyssum add a perfumed thread, and the core notes of crunchy star fruit, pear and lemon curd are equally juicy and precise.
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.