Chardonnay Wine

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2024 

James Suckling 93 Points | A fresh, fruity, juicy, crisp white that's generous in green apples, baked apples and minerals on a medium body. Subtle flavors of cream and butter come from partial malolactic conversion while maturing in stainless steel containers.

The Wine Advocate 90 Points | Made with 81% estate fruit, the 2024 Chardonnay has fresh aromas of red apples and pears, lemon peel, bread dough and spice. The medium-bodied palate is easygoing with ripe flavors, vibrant acidity and a long, flavorful finish.

Memo Summary Notes

The Crossbarn by Paul Hobbs Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2024 is a bright, refreshing style, a great expression of a cool-climate Chardonnay.

Food Pairings The wine's bright acidity and mineral core make it extremely food-friendly.

Seafood: Crab Louie, Grilled Shrimp, Oysters

Poultry: Roast Chicken, Chicken Pailla

Vegetarian: Mushroom & Asparagus Frittata, Creamy Risotto

Warehouse stored item - please allow two to five business days to fulfill.

Chablis achieves its highly distinctive mineral character due to its cool northerly climate and its highly calcareous soil. The Domaine Louis Moreau Petit Chablis is fresh and aromatic, with notes of apple and citrus on the nose. Bright acidity and a roundness on the palate.

Winemaker Description 

In an effort to produce a wine that pays honorable tribute to the esteemed AVA, we source our grapes from premium sites throughout the region. This blend includes several of the vineyards that have shown as standouts within the vast and rugged Sonoma Coast.

Bright and layered, the 2024 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay opens with aromas of citrus blossom, green apple, and Asian pear. On the palate, a lively core of lemon curd, crisp pineapple, and citrus zest is framed by subtle oak tones of vanilla and baking spice. The texture is both fresh and rounded, with vibrant acidity and a mineral lift that carries through to a long, clean finish.

Winemaker Description 

All of our eleven vineyard designate Chardonnays are marked first and foremost by regional characteristics. Beyond that lies the personality of each of the vineyards from which they hail.

All of the sites are planted to the same clone, a California heritage selection that we have been using for close to thirty years. Each wine is produced in the same fashion, with the focus being on the traditional techniques that elicit the earth driven, complex noble sulfides and resulting minerality inherent in the fruit from each site.

Each of our Chardonnay vineyards exhibits characters unique to the site, and hence unique to the wines bottled as vineyard designates. The bottling of wines of site is not a process we take lightly, as it is the main focus of our efforts. We often take years to assess the quality and individual personality of a site prior to deciding to bottle it on its own. We have been working with many of these sites for well over twenty five years.

Founded in 1978, Kistler Vineyards is a small, family-owned and operated winery specializing in the production of Burgundian style Chardonnay and limited amounts of Pinot Noir. Grapes are estate grown and purchased from vineyards in Sonoma County. In 1992, Kistler Vineyards moved all production to its Vine Hill Road Vineyard in the Russian River Valley.

One heritage Californian selection of Chardonnay planted across fifteen vineyards, from Carneros to Sonoma Valley, to the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. From those sites we produce eleven vineyard designate Chardonnays. We are wholly dedicated to the ideal of wines of site. It’s an unparalleled approach in the new world.

Winemaker Description 

Aromas of ripe apples, pears and hints of dried fruit can be found in this charming, unoaked white. The tasty palate showcases pure flavors of citrus, with hints of vanilla and mineral. Long, lively finish. Pair it with mussels with garlic butter.

Domaine les Chenevières was established in the 1850s and has been handed down from father to son through six generations of the Lenoir family of winemaker-growers. Currently run by Benoit Lenoir, the 45-hectare estate is situated in the Saint Maurice de Satonnay, eight miles north of Mâcon, where he has established a reputation for producing high quality Mâcon-Villages. The estate is farmed sustainably, with biodiversity in the vineyard being encouraged and minimal treatments employed. Yields are controlled to obtain the richest grapes possible. Benoit aims for a balanced approach of combining tradition with contemporary winemaking methods, vinifying plot by plot to produce wines with a bright floral and fruit-forward expression and excellent Mâcon typicity.

The Mâcon-Villages appellation covers white wines produced in selected communes of the Mâconnais wine area in southern Burgundy. The landscape of the Mâconnais is one of rolling limestone hills, bordered in the east by the Saône River. The Mont Pele vineyard is south-easterly facing vineyard on a very dry, acidic limestone soil with some clay, which produces a light, fresh and approachable style of Macon-Villages, with the clay component providing good water retention properties, to nourish the vines during the warm summers. The 35-year old vines are pruned according to the Guyot Arcure method, an arched style of pruning, which allows for a better circulation of the sap. Where possible the soils are worked by hand, to reduce the need for synthetic preparations.

Following a gentle pressing, the juice was left to settle with enzymes to clarify the must. Selected yeasts were added and fermentation took place at controlled temperatures of 18 to 20°C, in stainless steel tanks lasting for three weeks. The wine was then racked and left on its fine lees to impart texture and complexity, until bottling.

A quintessential Mâcon-Villages, with a lovely creamy texture lifted by green apple notes and mineral freshness on the crisp finish.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2020

Jasper Morris 92-94 Points | Mid lemon. A little more stuffing than the very agreeable Chenevottes, digging deep into fresh yellow fruit, some citrus rind, good acidity, and a particularly appealing intense crisp white fruit finish. Old vines count! 

Neal Martin writes:  The 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Champs Gain 1er Cru has a touch more mineralité on the nose compared to the Les Chenevottes, touches of gypsum and oyster shell intermingling with light white linen scents. The palate is very well balanced and beautifully poised, with entrancing white peach and nectarine notes toward the irresistible finish. Yes, yes, yes!  Drinking 2025 to 2048.  - Vinous 93-95

William Kelley writes: Aromas of citrus zest, peach and pear, mingled with hints of white flowers, hazelnuts and fresh bread, preface the 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs Gain, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and nicely concentrated wine with a bright spine of acidity and a mouthwateringly chalky finish. This looks to be Colin's best Champs Gain since 2017.  - Robert Parker Wine Advocate 91-93

Winemaker Description 

Founded in 1970 by Marc Colin and his wife Michele, Domaine Marc Colin now spans 15 hectares encompassing 26 appellations in St. Aubin, Chassagne, Puligny, and Santenay. Most of the land was inherited from past generations of Colin and Ponavoy; certain parcels have been in the family for more than 100 years. While the family does own prime territory in Chassagne, home base in St. Aubin features parcels of the very best vineyards, En Remilly and Chatenière, to name a few. These vineyards accrue prestige due to their sloped location; while much of St. Aubin resides on flat ground (rendering less interesting wines) the Colin properties are all situated on finely pitched hillsides. The resulting wines shimmer with savory minerality and luster.

Today Joseph, Caroline, and Damien, the children of Marc and Michele, own and run the domaine. The fourth sibling Pierre-Yves (who made the wine at Marc Colin for 10 years) established his own project in 2005. Sustainable and organic agriculture, older vines, and clay-limestone soils are just some of the components contributing to the quality of the final product. Winemaking style would best be called traditional, though Joseph (who makes the whites) and Damien (who makes the reds) are certainly not shy of innovation. Whites strive for optimum freshness; there is no heavy, ungainly wood here. The red wines are characterized by silky texture, ever-present fruit and a certain roundness with just a kiss of oak. Production consists of 70% white and 30% red with total production maxing out at 120,000 bottles.

Winemaker Description 

A. Margaine Special Club 2018 is a rare gem within Champagne — not only for its refined profile, but also for belonging to the exclusive “Special Club” group (aka Club Trésors de Champagne), a seal of excellence reserved for the best wines from small producers in the region. Produced from Chardonnay vineyards grown in Villers-Marmery, an atypical terroir of the Montagne de Reims, this cuvée perfectly translates the balance between finesse, structure, and minerality. A vigneron who only makes elegant champagne.

A. Margaine Special Club 2018 is a rare gem within Champagne — not only for its refined profile, but also for belonging to the exclusive “Special Club” group (aka Club Trésors de Champagne), a seal of excellence reserved for the best wines from small producers in the region. Produced from Chardonnay vineyards grown in Villers-Marmery, an atypical terroir of the Montagne de Reims, this cuvée perfectly translates the balance between finesse, structure, and minerality. A vigneron who only makes elegant champagne.

A Margaine Champagne - a small family owned vineyard run by father and daughter. Mathilde Margaine is the 5th generation, and first woman, to oversee the Margaine estate. Currently she still works with her father in all aspects of the domaine, from the vineyards to the winery. 

Their wine is produced in Villers-Marmery in the Montagne de Reims region. However, they are anomaly. Why? Most producers in this part of Champagne produce exclusively Pinot Noir. Instead, Blanc de Blancs is produced giving simply delicious hauntingly beautiful and original Champagnes you can drink. 

Expert Review - Vintage 2023

James Suckling 91 Points | This wine is comprised of grapes from 60 different vineyard lots in Sonoma County that are blended together to create one full-bodied, delicious Chardonnay.

COOPERAGE: 8 months in French oak, 20% new

Winemaker Description 

Our bright, medium-bodied and food-friendly William Hill Estate North Coast Chardonnay offers ripe fruit flavors of ripe melon, mandarin orange, peach and tropical fruit, supported by complex notes of citrus blossom and brown spice. Delicately structured and smooth, this refreshing, well-balanced wine has a crisp acidity and soft, creamy mouthfeel.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022

The Wine Advocate 94 Points | The 2022 Chardonnay Estate has open, inviting aromas of candied peaches, manuka honey, white pepper and tropical flowers. The satiny, medium-bodied palate pairs concentrated flavors and textural breadth with tangy acidity, and it has a long, flavorful finish.

Winemaker Description 

Our Professional Review

Bart of 67Wine.com writes | Beautifully sculpted and finely detailed, this delicious village white Burgundy has a terrific bouquet of white orchard fruits, wildflowers and lemon zest. There is lovely mouth presence with layers of flavor highlighted with mineral complexity and perfectly balanced acidity. This is a wine that presents itself in the glass with elegance and sophistication, and will accompany fine dining gracefully with finesse and savoir faire!

Winemaker Description 

Tasting note

Aromas of hawthorn, acacia which evolve with age to ambre, honey and spices. A harmonious and pleasant body on the palate.
Food pairings

Ideal with the pastas and risottos with seafood, the cheeses such as the blue cheeses.

Expert Review - Vintage 2021

The Wine Enthusiast 90 Points | Lemon peel, lychee and wet-rock aromas converge on the nose of this wine. The palate lands with clean, brisk energy, offering flavors of lime peel with rounded, ripe melon.

Winemaker Description 

Hahn SLH Chardonnay greets the nose with citrus, stone fruit and hints of banana and vanilla. A viscous mouthfeel with welcoming acidity that showcases stone fruits, citrus and hints of apple and spices.

Winemaker Description 

The Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Leflaive has the particularity to only come from vineyards located in the town of Puligny, making it easily one of the best Bourgogne Blanc you could get your hands on. This is the perfect first step into the Domaine Leflaive’s unique offerings. All vineyards are farmed biodynamically. 

Expert Review - Vintage 2022 

Allen Meadows of Burhound | A very pretty nose freely reveals its aromas of apple, pear and lemon rind. The succulent, delicious and appealingly vibrant middleweight flavors possess a relatively refined texture while displaying fine depth and length for a wine of this level. The 20% addition of young vines from upper-level vineyards clearly helps and overall, this is excellent.

Winemaker Description

Mevushal. From the raw, untamed beauty of the Western Cape, J. Folk wine fuses a modern South African soul with traditional winemaking methods expressed in the features of this wine. The result is a spirited selection resonating the people & places of its colorful origin. 

J. Folk Chardonnay features hints of fresh yellow stone fruit and peach, complemented by a lingering citrus finish. A luxurious texture and good length before being bottled young to retain its fresh character. 

Expert Review - Vintage 2021

Wine Spectator 92 Points | This graceful, lighter bodied Chardonnay rested in neutral French oak for 12 months after partial malo. It is brisk and tangy, with aromas and flavors of peach skins, lemon drops, chamomile, green tea and chalk. This nimble wine wants to tango, and you should accept.

Winemaker Description 

This exquisite wine, crafted from grapes harvested in both Dundee Hills and Eola-Amity Hills, offers a delightful journey into Oregon's terroir. With a harmonious balance achieved through 12 months of aging in neutral French oak, it presents flavors of the region's ripe fruit, supported by subtle oak influence. Limited to just 200 cases, this small production showcases the artistry of winemaking and the unique qualities of this vintage.

Winemaker Description 

Macrostie Sonoma Coast Chardonnay offers up alluring layers of persimmon, ripe Meyer lemon, and rich brioche.

Expert Review - Vintage 2021

MaryAnn Worobiec of the Wine Spectator writes 91 Points | Intensely juicy, with wonderful purity to the pear, pineapple, and tangerine flavors, notes of lemon blossoms, and dashes of honey and spices. Shows mouthwatering acidity on the long, expressive finish, where a touch of minerality lingers. Drink now.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022

Tasting Panel 92 Points | Rich and vivacious, this Chardonnay is a commanding display of grace. Notes of fresh jasmine and honeysuckle are in full bloom. Nutmeg and orchard fruit with a hint of cinnamon caper nimbly within the streamlined structure.

Winemaker Description 

Displaying aromas of ripe pear, pineapple, tangerine and caramel, this is a classic

Chardonnay from the Edna Valley. It is rich and creamy and bursting with tropical fruit flavors. Refreshing acidity keeps the wine lively on the finish, a signature of Edna Valley, it is balanced by the accompaniment of vanilla bean and toasted oak.

Expert Review - Vintage 2024

The Wine Advocate by Erin Brooks 92 Points | The 2024 Village Chardonnay had just been freshly bottled when I tasted it at the estate in Kumeu in March 2025. The other 2024 Chardonnays were tasted as tank samples prior to filtration and bottling soon. The wine leads with yellow citrus and crushed shells. It is texturally fine, sleek and tightly coiled around a core of salty acidity. It is complex but composed and very good. 

Winemaker Description 

Lively lime and lemon aromas and a flinty, mineral edginess with hints of fig and white peach. The weighty mid-palate also shows peachy ripeness along with crisp acid minerality that gives the wine a refreshing cleansing quality.

This wine is delightful as an aperitif, and even better to drink with fish and shellfish.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2023

The Wine Spectator 89 Points | Offers a snappy, buttery mix of peach, poached pear and fresh apple flavors, with notes of lemon blossoms, ginger and lemon meringue pie that linger. Drink now. 4,182 cases made.

Winemaker Description 

Sequoia Grove Napa Valley Chardonnay is hand-harvested in the cool morning hours. Upon arrival at the winery, the Chardonnay is whole-cluster pressed to tank and racked with all lees to barrel to begin native fermentation. The wine finishes primary fermentation in 100% French oak barrels, with one third in new French oak. The Chardonnay is then aged for 10 months on the lees where it undergoes bâtonnage (lees stirring) every two weeks until malolactic finishes completing the full natural process of the wine.

Nearly half of this Napa Valley Chardonnay is sourced from Haire Vineyard in Carneros. Haire has 30-year-old Wente and Robert Young clones planted specifically for Sequoia Grove. The other half is Dijon clones 95 and 96 from Cunat vineyard in Oak Knoll District. The combination of these clones and vineyard sources creates complexity in the finished wine.

Winemaker Description

Appearance: Clear and brilliant wine. Golden yellow color. Nose: Open and complex nose. Notes of yellow fruit on the nose and palate, with a touch of sweetness.

Palate: Balanced wine with a lovely freshness on the finish.

Food pairing: Shellfish, lobster, chicken in cream sauce, foie gras…

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2023

James Suckling 98 Points | #13 in Top 100 Wines of the USA, 2025. A driving force of appetizing acidity powers this full-bodied, brilliant, elegant and intricate wine. It offers mineral and citrus flavors in equal measure, starting with a lot of fresh lemon and lime zest aromas, then richer baked apple, lemon blossom and brown butter flavors. Feels so focused, linear and alive. Drink now or hold.

The Wine Advocate 96 Points | I tasted the 2023 Chardonnay La Carrière from tank just before it was bottled. It has inviting aromas of guava, peach, panna cotta, well-integrated new oak spices and top notes of Meyer lemon. The palate is satiny and mouth coating with luxuriously ripe, layered, spicy flavors. It’s balanced by vibrant acidity that adds focus to its generous flavors, and it has a very long, nuanced finish. A total of 2,478 cases were made, and the wine will be released in April of 2025. 

Vinous 95 Points | The 2023 Chardonnay La Carrière is wonderfully exuberant right out of the gate. Apricot, white flowers, tangerine peel, truffle, mint and lightly honeyed overtones all build in the glass. La Carrière is defined by striking mid-palate resonance and texture. It's another gorgeous wine in this range from Peter Michael. These are the lowest-yielding Chardonnay vines on the property. (AG)

Winemaker Description 

Domaine Laroche's 2023 Chablis St. Martin exemplifies the crisp minerality of this renowned region. Located in the heart of Chablis, Laroche is celebrated for its commitment to expressing the unique terroir of its vineyards, some of which are located on the original monastery sites.

The 2023 vintage, marked by a warm growing season with ideal conditions, resulted in vibrant and expressive wines. This Chablis St. Martin offers intense aromas of lemon zest, green apple, and oyster shell. On the palate, it reveals refreshing acidity, flinty minerality, and a crisp, clean finish. Perfect for pairing with oysters, seafood risotto, or goat cheese.

Expert Review - Vintage 2023

The Wine Spectator 88 Points | A ripe, fruity style, yet this shows textbook Chablis flint, lemon and apple flavors. This round, harmonious and juicy version lingers nicely on the finish. Drink now. 35,415 cases made, 7,083 cases imported.

Warehouse stored item - please allow two to five business days to fulfill.

Estate Vineyards provide the backbone to this expressive Napa Valley Chardonnay.
Notes of bright citrus-lemon and green apple are complemented by toasty vanilla and
a kiss of minerality from the soil. Barrel fermentation enhances the citrus fruit flavors
and balances acidity, while partial malolactic adds body and creamy crème brûlée
character to the mid-palate

The 2022 vintage of Chateau Montelena Chardonnay showcases the estate’s signature style: vibrant citrus and stone fruit layered with floral notes, crisp acidity, and perfectly integrated oak. Grown in the cool-climate Calistoga region, this organic-leaning Chardonnay balances richness with restraint, offering flavors of green apple, Meyer lemon, and a touch of baking spice. A benchmark Napa white, ideal for drinking now or cellaring—especially at this limited-time price.

Winemaker Description 

Precision in winemaking (and in life) requires intent and purpose. Removing notions of how things should be allows us to see things truly as they are. Moreover, the ability to be entirely honest with each vintage enables the creative freedom necessary for both development and true expression. Montelena Chardonnay does not have a style. What it has is the dual-purpose of vintage and vineyard expression and our meticulous intent to deliver on both.

-Winemaker Matt Crafton

Expert Review - Vintage 2022 

Charles Curtis, MW of Decanter 94 Points | This village-level wine is a reliable benchmark for the commune. It reflects the sunny character of the vintage with its ripe stone fruit and citrus notes, yet offers depth and complexity as well, with saline hints, flint and fresh white flowers. The texture is silky and approachable. It’s drinking now, but with enough substance to hold for five to 10 years.

Vinous 92 Points | The 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Village has a nicely detailed bouquet of green apples. It's a touch spicier than the Bourgogne Blanc with a trace of walnut coming through with aeration. The palate is nicely balanced with a keen line of acidity sour lemon hints and again that spice that lingers on the aftertaste.

Allen Meadows of Burghound 90-92 Points | A markedly more floral-suffused nose features notes of cool Granny Smith apple citrus and a touch of mineral reduction. The caressing delicious and plump but agreeably energetic medium-bodied flavors possess solid depth and persistence on the balanced firm and highly refreshing finale. This is also excellent for its level and a wine that should drink well after only 3 to 4 years of keeping but age gracefully for a decade. Recommended.

Winemaker Description 

Composition: Blending of 2 to 3 different harvests and then cellar ageing for 24 months. Made up of 100% Chardonnay.

​A Few Words From The Oenologist | To the eye: Bright and light golden colors with green reflections.  Nose: Fruity, thin floral, delicate and elegant (white flowers and fresh hazelnuts) ; perfect harmony with fresh and subtle aromas. Mouth: Perfect harmony with fresh and subtle aromas.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2021 

89-92 points Jasper Morris |  Fresh pale lemon. The bouquet has a little more refinement than the St-Aubin, offering apple, fennel and citrus notes. Clean, lean and pure on the nose, extremely refreshing. While there is little reduction on the nose, the finish has a lively mineral limestone feeling. Drink from 2025-2028. 

88-90 points Burghound | Bright and fresh aromas of resin, petrol and lemon zest introduce slightly bigger and richer though less mineral-driven flavors that are at once generous but reasonably precise on the lingering and agreeably dry finale. This relatively forward effort could use better depth so I would suggest holding it for a few years first. 

88-90 points Wine Advocate | The 2021 Chassagne-Montrachet Cuvée Margot reveals aromas of peach, freshly baked bread, oatmeal and spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample palate with a fleshy core of fruit, lively acids and a slightly lactic finish.