Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Ramey has worked with the same block of Hyde Old Wente Clone Chardonnay since 2002, and with the vineyard since 1996. This 10-year-old library selection is full-bodied and brings out beautiful toasted almond, tangerine and brioche nuances to top the creamy texture and layers of poached pears on the palate. Shows great concentration and depth. It has hardly moved in terms of maturity, so has many years left.
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Wine Enthusiast
This bold, beautiful wine has toasted, oaky undertones that support concentrated layers of apple skin, caramelized crème brûlée and a texture of gritty minerality. Papaya, mango and baked pineapple tug at the palate amidst a strong streak of stone.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A little closed at this youthful stage, the 2014 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard offers subtle honeyed peach, pineapple and passion fruit notes with touches of baking bread and cashews. The palate delivers the goods, packed with rich tropical fruit characters and a toasty/cedary undercurrent, framed by lively acidity and finishing long, with some spices coming through.
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Wine Spectator
Tight and well-centered on vibrant white peach, nectarine, lime and citrus themes, ending clean and lively, showing just a hint of oak. A good candidate for short-term cellaring.
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.