Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Showing how well this cuvée ages, the 2010 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard is drinking brilliantly and has a medium gold color as well as complex notes of caramelized lemons, honeycomb, brioche, and some beautiful minerality. It’s rich, medium to full-bodied, has a great texture, and is a classic, mature Chardonnay from Ramey that’s going to continue drinking well for at least another 4-5 years, possibly longer.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
The lively, bright character of Ritchie Vineyard fruit comes roaring through in the tight, floral-tinged, Gala apple aromas on offer here, and that fruit, with its blend of somewhat juicy character on the one hand and solid, firm, ageworthy structure underneath on the other makes the wine into a full-blown success. It finds some extra richness from a dollop of crème brulée oakiness, and like its mates, will improve with cellaring.
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Wine Spectator
Pure and refreshing, with vibrant, spicy citrus, green apple and Asian pear flavors, gaining richness and ending with delicacy. Drink now through 2019.
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 standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.