Winemaker Notes
The autumnal 2019 Staglin Chardonnay displays a layered subtlety centered around a baking spice infused core of Braeburn apple and Bosc pear poached in a slightly savory brine that lends to a saline and mineral inflected mid-palate enlivened by composed acidity and beguiling hints of cardamom and turmeric root. A bit reticent and shy at first, this wine really opens and fully blossoms with some time and big swirls in the glass to become livelier and more lifted, invitingly dancing on the palate and through the long and balanced finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2019 Chardonnay Estate is superb. Deep and beautifully layered, the 2019 offers up a striking mélange of tangerine peel, passion fruit, pineapple, white flowers and a kiss of French oak, all kicked up in a racy, voluptuous Chardonnay that is immensely captivating. Even with all of its intensity, the 2019 retains gorgeous freshness and tons of nuance. Once again, the Chardonnay is beautifully done. Best After 2021
-
Wine Spectator
Creamy and plush, with lithe apple and peach pastry flavors that are well-knit. Vibrant and airy spiciness on the open-textured finish. Drink now through 2023. 790 cases made.
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.
The Rutherford sub-region of Napa Valley centers on the town of Rutherford and covers some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyard real estate, spanning from the Mayacamas in the west, to the Vaca Mountains on the other side of the valley.
Inside of the Rutherford AVA, bordering the Mayacamas, is a stretch of uplands called the Rutherford Bench. (These bench lands technically run the length of Oakville as well). Mountain runoff creates deep, well-drained, alluvial soils on the bench, giving vine roots plenty of reason to permeate deep into the ground. The result is wine with great structure and complexity.
Rutherford Cabernet Sauvingons and Bordeaux Blends garner substantial attention for their enticing fragrances of dusty earth and dried herbs, broad and juicy mid-palates and lush and fine-grained tannins. The sub-appellation claims some of the valley’s most prized vineyards today, namely Caymus, Rubicon and Beckstoffer Georges III.
It is also home to Napa’s most influential and historic personalities. Thomas Rutherford, responsible for the appellation's name, made serious investments here in grape growing and wine production between the years of 1850 to 1880. Gustave Niebaum purchased a large swath of land and completed his winery in 1887, calling it “Inglenook.” Today this remains the oldest bonded winery in California. Georges Latour founded Beaulieu Vineyard in 1900, making it the oldest continuous winery in the state. Latour also hired the famous enologist, André Tchelistcheff, a man credited for single-handedly defining the modern Napa winemaking style.