Winemaker Notes
The 2022 Beresini vineyard is possibly the richest Beresini to date and shows additional density from the warmth of the vintage as we went through harvest. This is always a more rich/intense styled chardonnay, but this year it displays additional layers of complexity and finesse. As always, this wine shows a bit of what I tend to associate with a white rhone (think like Chave Hermitage) in its textural richness and length. The nose immediately hits you with white peach, honeydew, Earl Grey, and jasmine, followed up on the palate with bergamot, white raspberry and almond extract.This year adds on a bit of back end freshness and precision that just keeps this wine going forever on the palate, with a creamy and silky texture.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
So creamy, lush and buttery, it’s an all-out ripe, mouth-filling and luxurious wine. Saturated in golden apples, poached pears, cream and vanilla bean on a full body. So broad, indulgent, luscious and lingering in the finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Chardonnay Beresini Vineyard Cuvée Torchiana offers a bit more textural density and overt richness than the Cuvée Susan tasted alongside it. Apricot, white flowers, marzipan and tangerine peel are nicely laced together, all framed by a discreet touch of oak. I find the wine's balance simply impeccable. This is such an elegant wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a vineyard that has been part of the Tor lineup for almost 20 years, the 2022 Chardonnay Beresini Vineyard Cuvee Torchiana exhibits ripe citrus aromas akin to mandarin oranges and tangerines, with vanilla notes balanced by hints of lime and lemon. It's medium to full-bodied, streamlined and crisp but with a long, silky-textured finish.
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.
One of the world's most highly regarded regions for wine production as well as tourism, the Napa Valley was responsible for bringing worldwide recognition to California winemaking. In the 1960s, a few key wine families settled the area and hedged their bets on the valley's world-class winemaking potential—and they were right.
The Napa wine industry really took off in the 1980s, when producers scooped up vineyard lands and planted vines throughout the county. A number of wineries emerged, and today Napa is home to hundreds of producers ranging from boutique to corporate. Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely the grape of choice here, with many winemakers also focusing on Bordeaux blends. White wines from Napa Valley are usually Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that claim specific wine characteristics based on situation, slope and soil. Farthest south and coolest from the influence of the San Pablo Bay is Carneros, followed by Coombsville to its northeast and then Yountville, Oakville and Rutherford. Above those are the warm St. Helena and the valley's newest and hottest AVA, Calistoga. These areas follow the valley floor and are known generally for creating rich, dense, complex and smooth red wines with good aging potential. The mountain sub appellations, nestled on the slopes overlooking the valley AVAs, include Stags Leap District, Atlas Peak, Chiles Valley (farther east), Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain District and Diamond Mountain District. Napa Valley wines from the mountain regions are often more structured and firm, benefiting from a lot of time in the bottle to evolve and soften.