Winemaker Notes
Intense aromas of nectarine and peach, both yellow and white, mingle with high notes of lime, grapefruit, and honeysuckle on the nose. These continue to the palate where they meet candied ginger and rich chamomile flavors which will deepen as the wine ages. The creamy, full mouthfeel is lifted by stunning acidity which continues through the long and concentrated finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A classic, reserve-style wine made from the best barrels in the Rombauer cellar. It shows good tension in the texture, is barrel fermented and then aged in a combination of French and American oak. A blend of fruit from both the Napa and Sonoma sides of Carneros, Lush in poached pears, vanilla bean and green apple skin, with tension, minerality and spicy accents in the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Rombauer's 2023 Chardonnay Proprietor Selection is a barrel selection performed in the winery by the winemaking team. It's toasty but subtly so, with pencil shavings and crushed stone accenting pineapple and white peach on the nose. In the mouth, it's medium- to full-bodied, plump and creamy in feel, with a long, mouthwatering finish.
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Wine Spectator
Juicy and plump, offering pineapple, peach and apricot flavors alongside generous and fleshy notes of marmalade and lemon curd. A distinctive orange detail comes in on the finish, with orange blossom and candied orange peel hints lingering on the long, fresh finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Chardonnay Proprietor Selection is a wide, weighty wine, but it has brighter acids and an attractive kick of salty minerality that’s absent in the Carneros Chardonnay. Pear, red apple, linden blossom, chalk and mint open into a clean, crisp finish. This wine is all about texture. It’s very enjoyable and open for business.
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.