Winemaker Notes
A pale straw color, the bouquet is filled with aromas of key lime pie, lemon and crème brulee with a thread of nutmeg. Citrus notes continue through to the palate and layered with flavors of vanilla. This is a well-balanced Chardonnay with a creamy texture and bright acidity followed by a long sultry finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from the Sonoma Coast, the 2017 Chardonnay Evoluna was fermented and aged 18 months in 30% new oak. It represents a terrific value and has classy notes of white flowers, toasted spice, and lemon oil, with just a kiss of background oak.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Evoluna Sonoma Coast Chardonnay comes from the Martaella, Susanna and Searby vineyards. Fruit was harvested between September 2-11 and the wine was barrel fermented and aged 18 months. It springs from the glass with vibrant tropical fruits—pineapple and guava—plus spiced pears and peach cobbler with wafts of cedar and honeysuckle. Medium-bodied, the palate offers elegantly knit fruit and freshness with a satiny texture and great length.
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.
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.