Winemaker Notes
A beautiful pale yellow, there are multifaceted layers of aromas including caramelized pineapple, lemon rind, baked green apple, toast, and vanilla. The densely concentrated palate features notes of powerful stone fruit, floral honey, baking spice, and vanilla, all building, with a fresh, mouthwatering acidity, to a long and lingering finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from Carneros (both Napa and Sonoma) and a barrel selection, the 2020 Chardonnay Proprietor Selection offers a gorgeous perfume of ripe orchard fruits, acacia flowers, buttered toast, and hints of chalky minerality. Beautiful on the palate as well, with medium to full body, bright acidity, and a clean, classic, elegant style, it's another impressive wine from this estate.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Rombauer Vineyards Proprietor Selection Carneros Chardonnay is a standout wine. TASTING NOTES: This wine excels with aromas and flavors of dried earth, spice, apple, and oak. Pair it with lobster in a decadent cream sauce. (Tasted: September 7, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Succulent and generous, oozing with butterscotch and salted caramel to the peach, melon and citrus flavors at the core. Shows plenty of balance and a fresh thread of acidity to keep the flavors in focus. Spicy 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.