Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from the Hyde and Madrone Vineyards, the 2016 Chardonnay Reserve (all barrel fermented and aged in 65% new French oak) has a pure, complex, nicely textured style that carries classic white flower and caramelized stone fruit characteristics. This cuvée goes partially through malolactic fermentation and is rich yet also fruity, with subtle background oak. It’s incredibly well done.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chardonnay Reserve delivers zippy citrus scents of lemon slices, grapefruit and yuzu with underlying hints of toasty oak and chopped almonds. The palate is medium to full-bodied with great intensity of citrus flavors and loads of mineral accents on the long zesty finish.
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Wine Spectator
Lithe and juicy, with well-defined nectarine, pear and apple pastry flavors flanked by baking spice notes. Sage cream accents chime in on the well-structured finish. Drink now through 2022.
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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.