Winemaker Notes
Our Ritchie Chardonnay walks the fine line between richness & delicacy. It has a complex and harmonious mouthfeel that balances power and elegance.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard offers savory aromas of candied apricots, mushroom powder, graphite and cheese rind with nuances of toast and honey. The full-bodied palate still offers refreshing acidity to counter its rich, toasty layers. Its concentrated stone fruits are streaked with flinty nuance and a touch of phenolic texture that drives the long finish replete with layer after layer of intense flavor.
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Wine Spectator
Shows amazing vibrancy and purity of flavor, brimming with juicy, lemon-scented green apple, white peach and tangerine notes, enlivened by zesty acidity and a long, persistent aftertaste that maintains focus and depth. Drink now through 2020.
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.