Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2009 Chardonnay Russian River Valley is opulent with aromas of lemon curd and custard, button mushrooms, and sage. The palate is savory and inviting, with honeysuckle, pineapple, and hazelnut through its rich mid- palate and long finish. This is in a wonderful place now and certainly has more life over the next handful of years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a cooler growing season, the 2009 Chardonnay Russian River was matured has bright scents of lemon, toast, almonds and brown sugar, and the medium-bodied palate is satiny and mouthfilling with lemony fruit and juicy acidity.
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Wine Spectator
Firm, with a taut flintiness to the green apple, spice and floral notes, gaining depth and finesse. Loamy earth aftertaste. Drink now through 2018.
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.