Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Rich and creamy, with seductive vanilla-scented oak that adds texture and nuance to the solid core of green apple, pear and melon flavors.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: There is always something satisfying about the Rombauer Vineyards Chardonnays. The 2016 vintage plays a familiar refrain of that has carried this wine successfully in the marketplace since its first offering in 1982. TASTING NOTES: This wine starts out with appealing, ripe apple and peach skin aromas and flavors. Its finish shows pleasing mineral and buttery notes making it a perfect choice with shellfish in cream sauces. (Tasted: March 22, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
A spicy chardonnay that shows cloves, vanilla and apricot pie. The palate has good concentration with medium acidity and a medium finish. Drink now.
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.