Roots Run Deep Educated Guess Chardonnay 2007 Front Label
Roots Run Deep Educated Guess Chardonnay 2007 Front Label

Winemaker Notes

This is not your typical Napa Chardonnay. By combining the characteristics that both traditional barrel fermentation and stainless steel ferment provide, we were able to retain the delicious tropical fruit flavors, while also giving the customer what they have come to love in Chardonnay - creamy notes, toast, spice and vanilla without being overdone in any way. No "stick of butter and a 2x4" Chardonnay here! Very food friendly and crowd pleasing!

Professional Ratings

  • 90 Wine Enthusiast
    A beautiful Chardonnay and, at this price, a great bargain. Shows Chablis-like dryness and minerality and an elegantly crisp mouthfeel, with flavors of pineapple, vanilla and charred oak. Only 4,000 cases, but worth a search, especially by sommeliers for a by-the-glass program
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Roots Run Deep Winery began in 2005 when founder Mark Albrecht set out to answer a simple question: could great Napa Valley wine be both exceptional and accessible? After decades in the wine retail business, Mark saw that too many great bottles were priced or positioned out of reach for everyday drinkers—so he sold his house and everything in it to fund the winery's first vintage and prove otherwise. There was no inherited estate or outside investors behind the project; friends and family who believed in the vision helped turn that leap into a working winery.

That first wine, Educated Guess Napa County Cabernet Sauvignon, became the foundation of the brand. Roots Run Deep believes great wine lives at the intersection of science and craft—combining vineyard data, chemistry, and instinct with a bit of educated guesswork to create wines that are thoughtful, expressive, and approachable. The idea worked: over the years Educated Guess has earned Best Buy, Best of Class honors, and is consistently one of the top selling Napa Valley Cabernets under $50.

More than twenty years later, that same philosophy shapes everything the winery makes. Roots Run Deep still sources fruit primarily from Napa Valley vineyards, while also working with exceptional growers in Sonoma and other regions across California—and the portfolio has grown beyond that first bottle to include a range of small-production wines defined by site, style, and discovery. The name reflects what has always mattered here: strong foundations, deep vineyard relationships, and the belief that great wine should feel both special and approachable.

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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.

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Napa Valley

California

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One of the world's most highly regarded regions for wine production as well as tourism, the Napa Valley was responsible for bringing worldwide recognition to California winemaking. In the 1960s, a few key wine families settled the area and hedged their bets on the valley's world-class winemaking potential—and they were right.

The Napa wine industry really took off in the 1980s, when producers scooped up vineyard lands and planted vines throughout the county. A number of wineries emerged, and today Napa is home to hundreds of producers ranging from boutique to corporate. Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely the grape of choice here, with many winemakers also focusing on Bordeaux blends. White wines from Napa Valley are usually Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that claim specific wine characteristics based on situation, slope and soil. Farthest south and coolest from the influence of the San Pablo Bay is Carneros, followed by Coombsville to its northeast and then Yountville, Oakville and Rutherford. Above those are the warm St. Helena and the valley's newest and hottest AVA, Calistoga. These areas follow the valley floor and are known generally for creating rich, dense, complex and smooth red wines with good aging potential. The mountain sub appellations, nestled on the slopes overlooking the valley AVAs, include Stags Leap District, Atlas Peak, Chiles Valley (farther east), Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain District and Diamond Mountain District. Napa Valley wines from the mountain regions are often more structured and firm, benefiting from a lot of time in the bottle to evolve and soften.

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