Winemaker Notes
Lively and refreshing, this Chardonnay shows bright citrus and green apple up front, with subtle coastal character and a whisper of richness that adds depth without weight. The finish is long, clean, and inviting.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Such a pure California chardonnay, with a lovely reductive edge and saline, mineral accents, revealing aromas of lemon confit, struck match, Asian pears, wet river stones, white flowers and sliced grapefruit. The focused, polished palate shows excellent tension and vibrant acidity, leading to a mouthwatering, generous yet taut finish. Crafted with great balance and refinement. Aged in 20% new French oak with full malolactic fermentation. Drink or hold.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Afrom all Dijon clones with the balance Wente, the 2024 Chardonnay Gap's Crown Vineyard is a bright yellow-green tinged color and comes from the estate’s coldest site. Riper citrus, tarragon, wet stones, green apples, lime, white pepper, and flinty lift all emerge. Medium to full-bodied, it leans linear and snappy throughout. Drink over the coming 10-12 years. Drink 2026-2038.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine Enthusiast
The nose of this Chard leads with aromas of fresh Gala apple, Meyer lemon peel, white flowers, and river rocks. The palate provides bright acidity and firm grip, with flavors of tart nectarine, pineapple, green herbs, citrus blossoms, and candied ginger along the finish.
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Wine Spectator
A bold style, with blood orange, passion fruit curd and dried apricot notes that are fleshy and generous. Accents of tarragon, wild fennel and buttery shortbread are impressive on the finish, along with a savory thread of saline, plus fresh acidity. Drink now through 2038.
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Vinous
The 2024 Chardonnay Gap's Crown Vineyard is a very pretty, understated Chardonnay. Lemon confit, marzipan, white flowers, sage and dried herbs are all finely woven together in this classy, nuanced Chardonnay.
Three Sticks Wines is a boutique, family-owned winery recognized for pinot noir and chardonnay. Proprietor Bill Price III (nicknamed “Billy Three Sticks”) owns six Grand Cru level estate vineyards in Sonoma County, including three Heritage vineyards–Durell, Gap’s Crown, and Walala and three Monopole vineyards–One Sky, Alana, and William James. An intimate relationship with each property shines through in each of the Three Sticks wines, reflecting a keen understanding of how working with great vineyards, along with a meticulous winemaking style, produces inspiring results.
The Vallejo-Castenada Adobe (built in 1842) was built by Captain Salvador Vallejo, brother of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the Commandante Generale of the northern territory of Mexico (modern day Sonoma). The Prices purchased the property in 2012 and embarked on a two-year preservation project. The Three Sticks team worked with Sonoma historians and the Sonoma League for Historic Preservation to restore and protect the fabric of the property. They commissioned San Francisco-based designer Ken Fulk and his team to design the ambience of the Adobe, as it is known locally. The historic landmark in downtown Sonoma is now home to the hospitality of Three Sticks.
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.