Winemaker Notes
Ramey presses the fruit whole cluster for delicacy. Native-yeast and full native malolactic fermentation take place in barrel, with sur lies bâtonnage. After aging 12 months in 15% new French oak barrels (François Frères and Taransaud Beaune), the Chardonnay was traditionally fined for clarity and texture during the following harvest and bottled without filtration.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The fruit for this impressive wine come entirely from the Martinelli Charles Ranch three miles in from the coast. Nutty, full-bodied and earthy, it shows a youthful grip around the edges of its otherwise lush, complex and generous richness, with a mineral-like quality of slate and salt on the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Chardonnay Fort Ross-Seaview is vibrant with saline, oceanic minerality, lemon pith, and tarragon. The palate is curvy but focused, with green apple, Meyer lemon, delicate oak spice, and mouthwatering acidity.
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James Suckling
Aromas of matchstick, lemon grass, oyster shell and lily. Medium-to full-bodied with very good complexity and structure. Citrus and straw mix on the palate. Stony finish. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Crisp and direct, with fresh-cut Gala apple and lemon curd flavors backed by vibrant acidity. Shows dried sage accents in the midpalate, with minerally notes on the finish. Drink now.
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.
On the far western edge of the larger Sonoma Coast appellation, the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA hugs right up against the Pacific coast. Vineyards, planted at rugged elevations between 920 to 1,800 feet, occupy only two percent of the total land in the AVA. Fort Ross-Seaview growers believe that the region boasts an ideal mix of sunshine, cool air and beneficial stress for producing high quality Chardonnay and Pinot noir.