Winemaker Notes
Weather Wines’ infatuation with Chardonnay continues with this elegantly-complex release from the esteemed Sonoma Coast AVA. The 2021 vintage is golden in the glass with deep straw-hued edges. Aromas of butterscotch, citrus crème, lemon meringue and white tropical fruit promise rich and layered flavors on the palate. Ripe Fuji apple, Anjou pear and peach pie notes are lifted by fragrant jasmine and tangerine blossom and a touch of crushed-stone minerality. Aged for nine months in 30 percent new French oak barrels this luscious Chardonnay shows great acidity with a lengthy, fleshy 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.
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.