Winemaker Notes
Label Art: Designer Jeffrey Caldewey captured William Knuttel’s kin-etic wine world with Etienne-Jules Marey’s 1890 “chrono-photograph,” in which multiple exposures are superimposed to show the complete motion of “le coup d’epee.” The image meta-phorically highlights the balance, finesse, power and poise valued by the wine-maker.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This offers some elderflower and beeswax with lighter pears and baked apples. The palate has a juicy array of ripe pears and peaches with a smooth, even 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 Sonoma sub-appellation whose boundaries cover the northeastern corner of the Russian River Valley AVA, the Chalk Hill growing area is named after its unique chalky and white, volcanic ash soils. This terrain has proven successful with white varieties, namely Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc.