Winemaker Notes
Baked pear and citrus, complemented with caramel and brown sugar from the French oak. Layered and complex with balance between roundness and crisp acidity. This delicate wine has flavors of baked green apple tart and tropical fruit that flow through the mouth, finishing with caramel, lemon zest and toasty oak. Pair this elegant Chardonnay with dishes as versatile as lemon ricotta ravioli, baked chicken breast or a butternut squash soup.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Rutherford Ranch Reserve Chardonnay is a satisfying wine. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers plenty of pleasing nuances. Enjoy its excellent aromas and flavors of dried earth and ripe fruit with shredded chicken over baby spinach and arugula. (Tasted: December 10, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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.