Winemaker Notes
This delightful wine is a great introduction to our Chardonnay program. A medley of vineyards from three Sonoma Coast parcels and two Russian River Valley blocks, it has both clone 4 and Wente to make a dynamic and magical wine. The nose opens with shaved almonds, white flowers and brioche. Flavors of Clementine and spice add to driving acidity and a delicious mouthfeel.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the Chardonnay, the 2018 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast is a terrific appellation wine that does everything right. Buttered stone fruits, toasted almonds, brioche, and honeysuckle notes all emerge from the glass, and this puppy is medium to full-bodied, has bright yet integrated acidity, and delivers a clean, lengthy finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast, aged 12 months in 15% new French oak, is shy on the nose at this stage, with crushed shell and citrus peel. The palate fleshes out to ripe orchard fruits and nutty tones, super silky, fresh and long. It deserves another year or two in bottle.
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 vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.