Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Rich and creamy, this is a standout wine from the great vineyard owner and producer. It shines in a wealth of golden honey and salty oak, a well-balanced sensibility streaked through in a memorable, ying-yang of lushness and crisp Gravenstein apple.
Editors' Choice -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chardonnay Estate offers up lovely white peaches, honeydew melon and lemon curd scents with hints of honeyed toast and allspice. Medium to full-bodied with great freshness cutting through the intense stone fruit and citrus flavors, it has a nice long, savory finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Chardonnay is another classy wine from this estate. Buttered citrus, hints of pineapple, brioche, and buttered toast all emerge from this medium-bodied, sweetly fruited Chardonnay. It has plenty of fruit, a nicely balanced profile and a good finish. This cuvee spent 9 months in 35% new French oak.
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 standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.