Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Lewis MacGregor Estate Vineyard has a nose of toast, gunflint and roasted almonds with dried hay and leaves, white peach, citrus blossom and lime peel notes with a minerally core. Light to medium-bodied, it's laser-like, precise and mineral on entry, fleshing out to creamy, nutty fruits lifted by tangy acidity and finishing long and textured. 331 cases produced. Rating: 93+
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Wine & Spirits
This vineyard on Eastside Road was predominantly planted to Wente clone chardonnay when Williams Selyem purchased it in 2014. While they replaced much of the chardonnay with pinot noir, what is left produced a ripe and meaty white. It’s a little confected at first, but air brings out the stony mineral savor while the bright, honeyed sweetness moves toward beeswax. For a grilled salmon steak.
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 standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.