Winemaker Notes
Sourced from older vines planted to the Wente selection, the nose consists of spiced pear, crushed minerals, and fresh herbs, while subtle hints of green tea and ginger further add intrigue to the aromatics in this Lewis MacGregor Estate Vineyard offering. Acid-driven on the palate, the extract and weight of the wine harmoniously balances the acid. An overlay of yellow fruits, along with hints of flowers and subtle minerality, melt into the backdrop of the layered palate profile.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A lovely, inviting nose of baked green apples, ginger, straw and dried lilies. Medium-bodied and silky. Balanced acidity moves the palate forward, together with the yellow fruit and fresh flowers. Nuanced and elegant with subtle minerality. Rather refined and totally delicious.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Chardonnay Lewis MacGregor Estate Vineyard has layered aromas of white peaches, quince, yogurt and almonds, with a streak of flinty nuance. The medium-bodied palate is satiny and expansive, with focused freshness and savory layers defining the very long, lifted finish. Its fine texture and dynamic flavors promise more nuance to come as it ages in bottle.
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Wine Enthusiast
Spicy, floral and rich, this wine offers layers of pineapple, stone fruit and anise. While it shows substantial weight and a full-bodied structure, it remains bright in the glass, with a lingering finish of caramel apple and green tea.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Chardonnay Lewis McGregor Estate Vineyard is fresh with lemon balm, green apple, and vanilla bean. The palate delivers great concentration, although it has lifted, pithy citrus as well as green apple, beeswax, and fresh herbs. The palate is pithy, with a stony 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 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.