Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An exceptionally floral and fragrant vintage of this wine, the 2018 Alesia Chardonnay Anderson Valley beams from the glass with honeysuckle, white blossom and honeyed orchard fruit aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with great finesse, leading to a bright, chalky, citrus-tinged finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Starting with the 2018 Chardonnay Anderson Valley Alesia from the value-priced lineup from Rhys, it offers a vivid gold hue as well as bright, Chablis-like notes of lemon curd, salty, chalky minerality, crushed citrus, and a kiss of sappy flowers. These carry to a more medium-bodied Chardonnay that shows more sweet fruit and texture than you'd expect from the nose, and it's a charming, fleshy, ready to go beauty to enjoy over the coming 2-4 years.
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.