Winemaker Notes
This wine's act is so together. With the smell of Fall in the aroma with lemon curd, nectarine, mineral, spice and sea spray. A suggestion of richness-yet so focused and fresh. Harmony, texture and flavor, the trifecta. It has it all.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of multiple vineyards (this is the only blend in the Sixto lineup), the 2015 Chardonnay Uncovered is brought up in a mix of concrete and puncheons before spending 18 months in barrel. Buttered pineapple, white flowers, brioche, and some seriously ripe fruit emerge from the glass, and it's medium to full-bodied, beautifully concentrated and textured, with a terrific depth of fruit. It's impressive and showed even more freshness and purity with time in the glass.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The entry-level bottling, the 2015 Chardonnay Uncovered offers up pretty aromas of buttered apples and pastry cream, followed by a glossy, medium to full-bodied palate that's rounded and open-knit, but it retains good freshness and balance. It isn't quite as intense or concentrated as the vineyard-designate bottlings, but it's keenly priced and well-adapted to near-term consumption.
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James Suckling
This has a smooth, rich and creamy nose with spiced peach custard and nougat. Plenty of palate weight and texture. Peaches, melons and hints of lemons. Toasty and buttery finish. Drink now.
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Wine Enthusiast
A blend of the winery’s three vineyarddesignated Chardonnays from Roza Hills, Moxee and Frenchman Hills, the aromas are nuanced, with notes of spice, mineral, clarified butter, lees and candle wax. There’s a very pretty sense of elegance and texture that carries all the way through the finish. It’s all about sophistication.
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.
An important winegrowing state increasingly recognized for its high-quality reds and whites, Washington ranks second in production in the U.S. after California. Washington wines continue to gain well-deserved popularity as they garner higher and higher praise from critics and consumers alike.
Washington winemakers draw inspiration mainly from Napa Valley, Bordeaux and the Rhône as well as increasingly from other regions like Spain and Italy. Most viticulture takes place on the eastern side of the state—an arid desert in the rain shadow of the Cascade mountains. Irrigation is made possible by the Columbia River. Temperatures are extreme, with hot and dry summers and cold winters, during which frost can be a risk.
Washington’s wine industry was initially built on Merlot, which remains an important variety to this day, despite having been overtaken in acreage planted by Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Bordeaux blends and Rhône blends are common as well as single varietal bottlings. Washington reds tend to express a real purity of concentrated fruit. The best examples have a bold richness, seamless texture, plush or powdery tannins and flavors such as licorice, herb, forest floor, espresso and dark chocolate.
In terms of white wine from Washington state, Riesling is the state’s major success story, producing crisp, aromatic examples with plenty of stone fruit that range from bone dry to lusciously sweet. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc perform nicely here as well, and Viognier is beginning to pick up steam.