Winemaker Notes
The Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay walks the fine line between richness and delicacy. It has a complex and harmonious mouthfeel that balances power with elegance.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Seeing the standard 20 months in 20% new French oak, the 2017 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard comes from one of the Grand Cru sites in the Russian River Valley. It has remarkable purity and elegance to go with ample richness (which is the hallmark of this site) as well as notes of ripe lemon and citrus fruits, lots of spice and crushed rock-like minerality, medium to full-bodied richness, and a great finish. It's up with the top Chardonnay in the vintage but needs 2-3 years of bottle age. It's going to be drinking brilliantly at age 15. Rating: 95+
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard is perfumed with soft white blossoms, quince, beeswax and a nutty undercurrent. Medium-bodied and super silky, it expands to perfumed peachy fruit in the mouth, segueing to bright acidity and nutty nuances on the very long, energetic finis
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Wine Spectator
Vividly spicy, with concentrated baked pear, apple pastry and dried apricot flavors, backed by glistening acidity. Lemon meringue and quince paste notes fill the rich finish. Best from 2021 through 2025.
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.