Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
Sonoma-Cutrer broke ground for its new winery in 1981 and continued to be one of the global leaders in furthering the development of Chardonnay as an international grape variety. The 2013 Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay The Cutrer exhibits a wild sage and tight-knit stony personality. The wine's excellent acidity and tremendous balance—this one deftly combines fruit, earth, and hints of barrel— make it one of America's most prestigious white wines. Drinks well now and would be perfect for America's west coast Dungeness crab lovers as this year's catch comes to shore. (Tasted: October 3, 2016, 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.
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.