Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blockbuster California Chardonnay in all senses of the word, the 2001 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard may have been vinified and raised like a Burgundy, but this is all-American stuff. Loads of tropical fruit, lemon and orange liqueur characteristics, huge body, and big, yeasty brioche notes all make for a stunningly proportioned, dazzling example of full-flavored, pedal-to-the-metal Chardonnay. There are 1,050 cases of this head-spinning sex pot. Drink it over the next several years.
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Wine Spectator
Creamy-textured, with a mix of rich, smoky pear, fig, nectarine, honeysuckle and apricot, finishing with intensity and concentration and a pretty floral highlight.
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.