Winemaker Notes
The 2005 vintage has vibrant aromas of quince, passion fruit and vanilla accented by spicy cardamom and sandalwood, with tropical fruit and lemon curd leading to a full-bodied, lengthy finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Simi winemaker Steve Reeder has produced an utterly delicious wine with this barrel-fermented beauty, the best nonreserve Chard from the winery in nearly 10 years. It shows flamboyant, complex flavors of tropical fruits, green apples, pears, butterscotch and smoky vanilla, with crisp, clean Russian River acidity. This is a good price, and the wine should be easy to find, with nearly 20,000 cases produced.
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 standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.