Winemaker Notes
This wine is stylish and freshly balanced, featuring a light, pale straw presence in the glass with a bouquet of fresh orange citrus, toasted pine nuts, mild allspice, rocky flints, and toasted oak. Crisp, savory pineapple, sweet delicious apple, savory stone fruit, and ripe pear lead into mouthwatering deliciousness.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2018 Chardonnay Brown Ranch Vineyard. This beauty has ample richness and depth as well as a light, graceful texture. Notes of buttered orchard fruits, brioche, toasted nuts, and honeysuckle give way to a medium to full-bodied, opulent Chardonnay that's going to drink nicely for 3-4 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
From a former cattle ranch once associated with Saintsbury Winery and bordering Hyde Vineyard, this deliciously complex white is lemony and high toned, with a floral undercurrent of great appeal. Sharp and bright in acidity, it offers depth and balance, with lasting notes of pear, baking spice and crushed rock
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay Brown Ranch Vineyard slowly unfurls from the glass with notes of lemon curd, fresh grapefruit and shaved ginger with hints of lime leaves, peach blossoms and clotted cream. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a lovely satiny texture with tons of freshness lifting the delicate citrus and spice flavors to a long 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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.