Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Chardonnay Anderson Valley from the team at Rhys knocks it out of the park, and I suspect it’s a screaming value. White peach, apple blossom, spice, and some white flower notes all flow to a medium-bodied, elegant, seamless Chardonnay that has tons of character. It will keep for 5-7 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Alesia Chardonnay Anderson Valley offers up an inviting bouquet of green orchard fruit, struck match, blanched almonds and subtle nutmeg. On the palate, it's medium-bodied and succulent, with a more rounded, giving profile than its Santa Cruz Mountains counterpart but displays good cut and vitality, concluding with a youthfully chalky finish. This is the most accessible Chardonnay in the Rhys portfolio, but I'd expect it to drink well for the better part of a decade.
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.
Surrounded by redwood forests and often blanketed in chilly, ocean fog, the Anderson Valley is one of California’s most picturesque appellations. During the growing season, moist, cool, late afternoon air flows in from the Pacific Ocean along the Navarro River and over the valley's golden, oak-studded hills. High and low temperatures can vary as much as 40 or 50 degrees within a single day, allowing for slow and gentle ripening of grapes, which will in turn create elegantly balanced wines.
The Anderson Valley is best known for Pinot Noir made in a range of styles from delicate and floral to powerful and concentrated. Chardonnay also shines here, and both varieties are often utilized for the production of some of California’s best traditional method sparkling wines. The region also draws inspiration from Alsace and produces excellent Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.