Winemaker Notes
Also north of the Carneros Highway, but further west, the terrain here is more rolling than that of Hyde, the soil lighter and more friable. Blocks and selections include E-block (Wente), planted in 1984 (and unfortunately, the final year for this block, which is being replanted); B-block, a younger planting of Wente selected from Larry Hyde's vineyard; and L-block, a Robert Young selection (originally Wente) planted in 1989. Hudson Vineyard wines tend to a more muscular, masculine character—broad-shouldered, if you will.
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Ramey's Hudson Vineyard bottling wins top honors among the winery's three new single-site offerings by virtue of its perfect marriage of richness, refinement and balance. It leads with lots of optimally ripened appley fruit while showing a good bit of sweet oak and top-notes of flowers and spice. Always intense, yet never out of control, it is at once both rich and extracted yet also light on its feet. It delivers plenty to like now, but it has the kind of structure and depth that guarantee even better things to come a few years hence.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering copious amounts of orange marmalade, smoky hazelnuts, and tropical fruits, the full-bodied, rich 2005 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard is on a faster evolutionary track than the Hyde Vineyard.
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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.