Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The single vineyard 2017 Chardonnay Sangiacomo Vineyard comes from a site on the Sonoma Coast and was fermented and aged 8 months in 30% new French oak. It’s a more racy, salty, vibrant effort that has terrific white flowers, orange blossom, and honeyed citrus notes as well as medium to full-bodied richness. Balanced, layered, and just a great example of the rich yet racy style that’s prevalent in the vintage, it’s going to benefit from a year in bottle and I suspect have a decade of longevity.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Sangiacomo Vineyard, barrel fermented and aged in 50% new oak, sings of honey drizzled white peaches, lemon tart, lime cordial and shaved almonds with touches of struck match, chalk dust and mandarin peel. Medium-bodied, the palate has electric citrus intensity with a lively line of freshness and bags of mineral notions on the long finish. 304 cases produced.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is fleshy on the palate and bright in aromas of citrus and stone. Notes of pear, flint and lime provide an unctuous nature on the palate, with refreshing acidity making for a nicely balanced and memorable experience.
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.