Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Ranking with the top wines in California, the 2017 Chardonnay B. Thieriot Vineyard comes from an old vine site far out on the Sonoma Coast and spent 15 months in one-third new French oak. This medium to full-bodied, concentrated, magically Chardonnay does everything right and offers extraordinary notes of orchard fruits, spice box, honeycomb, and a distinct salty minerality that makes you salivate. With remarkable concentration, terrific purity, flawless balance, and a great, great finish, the only downside is that there are only 150 cases produced. Hats off to Thomas Rivers Brown for another thrilling Chardonnay.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay B. Thieriot Vineyard was barrel fermented and aged 15 months in 33% new French oak. Grapes were harvested on September 28. It's scented of Golden Delicious apples, baker's yeast, Bosc pear, rock and citrus blossom with light touches of honey toast. The palate is light to medium-bodied and very energetic with a great savory/citrus duality, tangy acidity and an incredibly long, textured finish. 150 cases were made.
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.