The wine has inviting aromas of spicy pear, marzipan, lemon drop candy, peach pie and pineapple. As a cool-climate Chardonnay, there’s a refreshing acidity on the finish giving the wine great poise, balance and energy.

This 2020 offering is layered and complex with green apple, pear, and dried flowers intertwined with Meyer lemon citrus and ginger notes. Rich, and very complex while still maintaining a delicate and energetic flow on the palate, there is poise and freshness to the long finish with clove and toffee almond flavors. This is a very fine Alder Springs Chardonnay that will reward the patient collector.

From one of the coolest sites we work with on a high ridge just east of the town of Occidental. The nose shows lemon citrus zest, Honeysuckle, spicy carnation, cardamom-clove, fresh peach, and green apple along with a toasty yeast note. The palate is driven by mineral-laced acidity, crisp and dry, while maintaining an oily richness that is beguilingly dense and lingering before the profound acidity clears the way for the next sip.

This Chardonnay is from blocks planted for Patz & Hall in 1997 and 1999 using the famous “Hyde-Wente” selection of Chardonnay. The 2021 vintage is aromatically elegant, full of classic Hyde Vineyard traits of white flower, Honey Dew melon, orange zest, dried apricot, and cinnamon poached pear. On the palate the wine offers lime peel, butter almond cookie, cedar, and fennel seed. This wine has wonderfully fresh acidity that is contrasted by startling deep, rich textures, a seeming contradiction, found in only the greatest Chardonnays.

The “Spring Mountain Selection” is famous for its’ distinct high-tone Muscat-like fruit aromas, notes of ruby red grapefruit, honeysuckle, Muscat jam and fresh fruits. Juicy, tropical fruit flavors carry over onto the palate with pineapple, mango, and guava flavors. The palate is crisp, mouthwatering, and refreshing, keeping the wine sleek and pure. I aged this wine in 100% older oak to preserve the aromatic purity of this exotic wine. This wine is particularly well suited to spicy, complex Asian inspired foods, or as an aperitif.

This 2020 bottling of Durell Vineyard is a classic example of this venerable estate. Composed, elegant and complex, the nose shows dried orange peel, spicy pear and green apple notes along with a hint of ocean salinity. The palate is fresh and vibrant with hints of nectarine and honey-dew melon that are framed by fine-grain acidity that keeps the texture light, elegant and refreshing.

Fresh and vibrant with penetrating aromas of candied ginger, summer melon, and green apple. Notes of lightly toasted almond, pineapple, vanilla bean, and lemon cream flesh out the complex and layered nose. Succulent and unctuously fruit forward in the mouth, fresh green apple and spicy pear intertwine with cascades of mineral acidity lifting the ripe peach and kiwi flavors. The exquisitely fresh finish resonates and cleanses while pumping out a kaleidoscope of flavors. Soberanes is the newest addition to our portfolio of world-class Chardonnays.

The 2020 Zio Tony Ranch Chardonnay is layered, complex and vibrantly expressive. Aromas of lime zest, roasted hazelnuts, summer melon, honeycomb/wax weave between spicy pear and green apple. The mouthfeel is focused and vibrant with mineral tension, moving the rich, slightly oily mid-palate along to a mouthwatering, fresh finish. Zio Tony always rewards patient cellaring, where it gains smoothness, texture, and additional complexity.