Winemaker Notes
Max’s parents purchased the B.A. Thieriot property in 1988. The vineyard was planted soon after by the late Warren Dutton of Dutton Ranch. Year after year this vineyard consistently produces high scoring wines and is known to be one of the premiere vineyards in Sonoma.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from one of the three estate vineyards and a single block planted in 1989, the 2019 Chardonnay B.A. Thieriot is a brilliant Chardonnay that reminds me of a Grand Cru Chablis with its incredibly salty minerality and racy style as well as beautiful lemon curd, white flowers, honeysuckle, and brioche-driven aromas and flavors. It starts out tight and racy yet builds beautifully with time in the glass and offers more toasted bread and hazelnut nuances, medium to full-bodied richness, flawless balance, and a great, great finish. Given its acidity, it needs 2-4 years of bottle age and will have 10-15 years of overall longevity. The salinity and minerality in this beauty are truly something.
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.