Chardonnay Wine

Expert Review - Vintage 2019

88-91 Points Burghound | There is a smoky character to the white orchard fruit and more floral-inflected aromas that exhibit a touch of matchstick. The rich, lightly stony and reasonably well-detailed medium-bodied flavors terminate in a saline, balanced, dry and lingering finale. Like the Maltroie, this isn't especially dense and needs to develop more depth, but it is certainly pretty.

Winemaker Description 

Etude was founded on the philosophy that winemaking begins in the vineyard, long before the harvest, with superior grape growing leading to wines with authentic varietal expression and a telling reflection of where they are grown and produced.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2022

Wine Enthusiast 94 Points | Lemon pith and peel aromas meet with almond on the nose of this appellation cuvée.The zippy and lively palate shows fresh lime zest, a touch of tropicality and a tactile minerality.

James Suckling 94 Points | Bright, polished and layered, this is a harmonious wine that blends apples, lemon zest, light baking spices and vanilla bean. Medium-bodied with a rich mid-palate, vibrant acidity and a sense of chalky minerality.

The Wine Advocate 92 Points | The 2022 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills is a well-crafted, accessible example of the rich but focused style of Chardonnay at Brewer-Clifton. The nose combines orchard and stone fruits with hints of citrus zing and accents of struck flint. The palate is straightforward and balanced, flanked by pleasing grip and a welcome stoniness through the finish.

Winemaker Description 

This blend is comprised of 3D, Machado, Hapgood and Perilune vineyards. While each lot is handled separately and in a completely uniform fashion in the winery, each contributes vastly different expressions which ultimately harmonize in the finished wine.

Aromas of lemon, kiwi, orange blossom, and sweet basil with notes of jasmine, lime ginger and minerality on the palate.

This bottling is comprised Chardonnay from three vineyards within the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. 3D, Machado, and Hapgood vineyards all contribute to the wine which exhibits a drive, richness and pedigree expressive of our special growing area coupled with the purity of fruit and firm structure which have been the trademark of Brewer-Clifton

Expert Review - Vintage 2020 

Allan Meadows of Burghound writes 92 Points | Once again moderately generous wood can be found on the slightly riper aromas of petrol, white peach and citrus confit. There is both excellent volume and verve to the bigger-bodied flavors that possess evident power on the clean, very dry and impressively persistent finish that also exhibits just enough warmth to mention. Good stuff. 

Winemaker Description

Lightly touched by wood aging, this ripe wine is both crisp and rich. Its briskness brings in a mineral edge while the ripeness produces the rich apple and apricot fruits. This full wine is ready to drink. Matured on fine lees with regular stirring, this wine amazing body and smooth richness that is so important to its balance. 

This Chardonnay Vieilles Vignes (old vines) possesses the cardinal qualities of Burgundy’s best white wines. The grapes selected for this wine come from vines on the Cote d’Or that are more than 20 years old. The predominant white flower and citrus nose leads to notes of honey and dried fruit. The palate is very well balanced, skillfully blending vivacity and roundness.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2022 

Audrey Frick of Jeb Dunnuck writes 94 Points writes | The 2022 Chardonnay Fort Ross-Seaview reveals more flint, as well as notes of lime zest, green apples, toasty incense, and saline. Medium bodied, it retains good freshness and has a savory feel on the finish. It reveals a light herbal note, but it’s going to drink well over the next 10 years.  Drinking 2024 to 2034.

Jim Gordon of JamesSuckling.com writes 93 Points | Flavors of key limes and lemon curd burst from this well-balanced, tangy, acid-driven wine as it lights up the palate. Despite a full body, it shows freshness, vibrancy and concentration, with hints of oak spices, vanilla bean and custard that echo on the finish. Drink or hold. 

Antonio Galloni of Vinous writes 92 Points | The 2022 Chardonnay (Fort Ross-Seaview) is a very pretty wine. Jasmine, tangerine peel, mint and light tropical notes all run through this expressive, nuanced Chardonnay. All of this fruit is from the Martinelli family's Charles Ranch, a site most producers bottle as a vineyard designate.  Drinking 2024 to 2031.

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 

James Suckling writes 92 Points | A delicious chardonnay with a sour lemon, cooked apple and grapefruit undertone. Medium body. Tangy and fruity. Drink now. Screw cap. 

Erin Larkin of the Wine Advocate writes 90 Points | The 2023 Village Chardonnay is silky and sleek in the mouth, with lemon flesh, curd, almond meal and brine. The wine has loads of flavor but is restrained and composed; it's a really great entrée to the world of Kumeu River. Eighty percent of the fruit is from the Hawke's Bay vineyard. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.  Drinking 2023 to 2029. 

Expert Review - Vintage 2020 

93 Points Robert Parker | The 2020 Chardonnay was released in October 2022. As usual, it's a non-malolactic fermentation wine, matured in a relatively small proportion of new French oak, and so it reveals hints of apple, tangerine and lime on the nose. Medium to full-bodied, it's sappy, a bit linear and vibrant on the palate, finishing crisp and long.

Producer Description 

Bright gold in the glass, the wine opens with green apple, honeysuckle and orange blossom. The citrus in particular seems to be most evident, as lime leaf and lemon zest at this stage. This vintage was more classic rather than overly ripe, so it's not surprising. There's a hint of fresh wood and vanilla as well, adding some nuance without overshadowing the beautiful floral character. The parade of citrus marches on, although the midpalate turns more tropical with starfruit and pineapple. And while there's still plenty of green apple, the texture and juiciness of Asian pear adds complexity and depth. The acid is consistent and winds its way through the profile, lifting the texture and balancing the suppleness from barrel. This will be a long-lived wine. The transition to the finish is still somewhat abrupt due to the wine's youth and dynamism. This will change over time. But here, the character is dominated by lemon curd and pie crust, along with chalk and fresh apricot. The acid is still mouthwatering, although it has mellowed somewhat. Despite its young age, the overall length of this Chardonnay is impressive.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2020 

Wine Spectator | Harmonious and buttery this white features creamy lemon peach baking spice and sweet butter flavors. Well-balanced and integrated this is very approachable now yet with vibrant acidity underneath and a lingering tangy mineral-laced finish. Best from 2025 through 2038.

B.S.Burghound 91 Points |There are vague Chablis-like hints of iodine and seashore to the ultra-fresh aromas of green apple white flower and citrus peel. There is both good volume and richness to the focused and moderately powerful flavors that deliver fine length on the mineral-driven appealingly dry and youthfully austere finale. At present the mid-palate isn't especially dense though I suspect that with age it will flesh out significantly. (Drink starting 2030).

Winemaker Description 

Magnificently concentrated, a very fine nose with aromas of acacias, honeysuckle blossoms and nuts. Very pure and powerful with superb depth that will age up to 10 years.
Serve with shellfish, lobster, foie gras and poultry dishes in creamy sauces.

Domaine Antonin Guyon is one of the most prestigious estates in the Côte d’Or, as well as one of the largest family-owned wineries in the region. It was started in the 1960s by Antonin Guyon with parcels of land in Gevrey and Meursault. Today, the massive 47 hectare property is controlled and operated today by Antonin’s sons, Dominique and Michel and produces wines of impeccable quality from 15 different appellations, which includes many renowned villages from the region. An exceptional range of Premier and Grands Crus.

WINEMAKING & VINTAGE NOTES

The Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru vineyards straddle the communes of Pernard Vergellesses and Aloxe-Corton and enjoy a south westerly exposure. The soil here is white marl, and almost pure limestone. Grapes are hand-harvested and then carried to the winery in small boxes, where they are sorted. Fermentation is carried out at 64-68°F in oak casks. Lees are stirred in the casks twice a week. Wines are aged in 50% new French oak. Winemaker Description. 

Winemaker Description 

Rich, creamy flavors of pear and butterscotch with a delicate touch of oak.

Enjoy with jumbo prawns or roasted chicken. Serve chilled. 

Winemaker Description

Israel. Aromas of orange blossoms, apricots and vanilla, and completed with bright acidity, and a long mouth coating finish. 

Winemaker Description

Dermot Surgue has been behind some of the best English wines over the last two decades. He is the man "who put English sparkling wine on the map"(Independent Newspaper) and was even called the "best winemaker in England" by the late, great Steven Spurrier. 

Made in tribute to his late brother, the Sugrue Cuvée Boz Blanc de Blancs 2015 is a magical release from the Jenkyn Place single-vineyard in Hampshire. When Vinous's Neal Martin, the "most famous and influential wine reviewer in the world" (Greg Sherwood MW), calls the 2015 Cuvée Boz an "outstanding English sparkling wine" and 'one of the best' he has tasted, then one takes notice. 

Expert Review

Scoring 18/20 from JancisRobinson.com's Tamlyn Currin, her joint-highest ever scoring English sparkling, and 94 points from Vinous, this chiselled Blanc de Blancs is "charged with the purest canon of English fruit" (TC). A 2015 that is "very well balanced and poised, quite weighty" (VN) on the palate, this new edition of Cuvée Boz has a wonderful minerality that cuts through the gorgeous notes of ripe pear and elderflower honey "like a flashing blade of Valyrian steel" (TC). With an advised drinking window up to 2036, this will have the cellar life of a top quality Champagne. 

Burghound 91 Points | Here too the nose is elegant, pure and layered but with more floral and spice nuances adding breadth to the cooler and more restrained aromas. There is both excellent intensity and density to the mineral-driven flavors that terminate in a bone-dry, sneaky long and balanced finale. This too is really very good. 

Winemaker Description 

The Domaine Génot-Boulanger plot used to be home to walnut trees, trees that particularly appreciate limestone soils and moisture, at least as much as the vines of this wine. The aging notes are balanced by the minerality of this wine.

The tasting reveals a wine that is characterized by aging notes. Minerality can be detected on the nose, accompanied by notes of sweet spices. On the palate, the wine presents a beautiful fatness and power.

Expert Reviews

Wine Enthusiast 93 Points | Reflecting this producer’s predilection for dry Champagnes, this wine is crisp, with minerality and tight citrus fruits. The wine is beautifully textured, needing a few more months in bottle.

The Wine Advocate 93 Points | The latest release of this new cuvée, the NV Blanc de Blancs Nature from Laurent-Perrier offers up aromas of white fruits, flowers, confit citron and baked bread. It has a medium to full-bodied, tense and perfectly balanced palate with bright acids and a delicate vinous core of fruit, segueing into a long, saline and chalky finish. Based on the 2014 vintage (60%) complemented with the 2012, it is derived from vines planted in the communes of Avize, Cramant and Chouilly.

Wine Spectator 92 Points | This racy Champagne is driven as much by its crackling acidity as it is by the very fine, vivid mousse, which offers a layered framework for the rich mesh of pastry cream, lemon curd, poached apricot and almond biscotti flavors. Lightly toasty on the satiny finish. Drink now.

Winemaker Description 

The wine has a white gold color with a fine sparkle.The nose displays minerality and hints of citrus.On the palate the wine is balanced and sustained with a finish that is fresh with notes of lemon.

The Blanc de Blancs is a true wine for gastronomy pairing well with the finest fish: sea bass with salt crust, scallops, grilled marinated squid with lemon, thyme, olive oil as well white meats such as veal tartare with ginger and lemon.

Critic Notes

Tim Fish of the Wine Spectator writes 94 Points | Sleek yet luxurious, this impressive white offers rich Asian pear, nectarine and lemon zest flavors that gather richness and flesh on the long finish. Drink now through 2026. 

Eric Guido of Vinous writes 91 Points | The 2022 Chardonnay Willamette Valley impresses with its fruit-forward yet beautifully balanced personality, blending yellow apples with chamomile, ginger and hints of white smoke. This is soothingly round with a balance of saline minerals and ripe pears, all guided by brisk acidity. It finishes with admirable length and gentle tension, leaving minty herbal tones to linger on.  Drinking 2024 to 2029.  -

Erin Brooks of the Wine Advocate writes writes 91 Points | The 2022 Chardonnay Willamette Valley, which contains fruit from vineyards across the appellation, including Koosah, Découverte and Witness Tree, is tense and shimmery. It's scented of yellow apples, lemon peel, bread dough, cashews and beeswax. The light-bodied palate balances concentrated, nutty fruit with vibrant acidity, and it has a long, silky finish.  Drinking 2024 to 2034.

Clive Pursehouse of Decanter writes 93 Points | A core of lemon driven intensity the Résonance Willamette Valley bottlings are nearly as impressive as the single vineyard designates. This wine is a combination of the estate vineyards and some of the Willamette Valley's top sites. Aromas of sweet Meyer lemon blossom, fragrant gardenias, and smoky grilled lemon peel. The palate showcases a real vibrance of fruit, early season stone fruits, lemon curd and bright mineral elements. Crisp acidity yet richly balanced.  Drinking 2024 to 2034. 

James Suckling writes 92 Points | A structured, golden apple-scented wine with hints of toasted almonds, light toast and subtle caramel. Well-balanced, rounded and composed. Drink now. 

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.

Expert Review - Vintage 2020 

Allen Meadows of Burghound writes 90-92 Points | Elegant and cool aromas include those of lemon, green fruit, pepper and wisps of iodine. The lush, round and generously proportioned flavors are supported by bright acidity on the saline and citrus-tinged, dry and sneaky long finale. This moderately dry effort could use better depth, but more should develop with time in bottle.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022 

Tim Atkin 90 Points | This wine can be enjoyed young (2-3 years old) with fish or poultry terrines, or with grilled or poached fish. It also goes well with asparagus, which is normally difficult to match, as well as exotic cuisine: it can handle curries or tandoori dishes and it also balances out the mellow and subtle texture of sushi. Or you could simply drink it as a splendid pre-dinner drink. It harmonizes well with goat cheeses, as well as Beaufort, Comté, or Emmental. 

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 Review - Vintage 2022 

James Suckling 92 Points | A chardonnay with excellent quality for the money with a phenolic tension and mineral and flint undertones. Serious and dry.

Winemaker Description 

 The 2022 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is bright, forward, balanced and approachable. Enticing aromas of red apple, spice, nectarine, and baked bread lead into a broad textured, and creamy palate. With its cool-climate influences, this chardonnay has remarkable varietal intensity, balanced acidity and mineral notes that complement the flavors of fresh peach and honey.

Winemaker Description 

Corbett Canyon sources grapes grown from some of the top wine regions around the world which produces a greater concentration of flavors. We balance our delicious fruit with a touch of oak to give the wine a classic style that people can count on bottle after bottle. 

Our Chardonnay is a medium-bodied wine with classic hints of apple, pears and toasty oak.    

Expert Review - Vintage 2021 

Burghound | A much more floral-inflected nose freely offers up its aromas of cool and ripe pear, apple and zest. There is good richness if not quite the same density to the more finely textured middleweight flavors that conclude in a crunchy bitter lemon-tinged finale. Lovely and understated.

Winemaker Description 

Bouquet of apple, citrus and tropical fruit, then fermented on the skins, but never in oak.

Winemaker Description 

C Blanc du Castel is a white wine made purely of Chardonnay grapes (100%).
Using French oak barrels, the wine is fermented and then set to mature in its residual sugars for about a year, Bourgogne style.

‘C’ Blanc du Castel is known for its rich and buttery bouquet and refreshing acidity; it bears a full round flavor, with a touch of citrus, tropical fruit and roasted almonds.

This is a well-balanced wine with a fine long finish. It reaches its peak about 4 years after its harvest, and the recommended serving temperature is 12-14 degrees Celsius.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022

Matthew Luczy of the Wine Advocate writes 92 Points | The 2022 Chardonnay Vino de los Ranchos is sourced from own-rooted vines planted in 1973. The nose is poised and elegant, with inviting aromas of orchard fruits, toasted marshmallows, nougat and praline. The palate is energetic and laser-like in focus, leading to a crunchy, salivating finish that adds weightlessly rich depth and additional saline character with extended aeration.  Drinking 2022 to 2030.

Winemaker Description 

Think citrus flowers, orange meringue, salted almonds with bright acidity.
This wine is produced from the Rancho Vinedo Vineyard, planted in the Santa Maria Valley in 1973 on its own roots. It is farmed organically. The grapes are picked based on natural acidity, flavors, and visual signs in the vineyard. 

Once in the cellar the grapes are pressed, juice collected and barreled down to ferment with native yeast in old french oak barrels. The wine is aged on its lees for 17 months before being racked for the first time to bottle, unfined & unfiltered. 

Expert Review 

Burghound 89 Points | Cool and airy aromas are comprised by notes of petrol, white flowers and citrus zest. I like the mouthfeel of the equally tension-filled and mineral-driven middle weight flavors that exhibit evident minerality on the bone-dry, liner and youthfully austere finale. This is also quite good and worth checking out. 

Winemaker Description 

This taut white has an oily texture that envelops lemon oil, sweet corn and green apple skin flavors. Firm and balanced, with toasty oak and baking spice accents emerging on the finish. Drink now through 2026. 

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2022

Charles Curtis MW of Decanter Magazine writes 94 Points | Lucie Coutoux explained that although La Maltroie and Champgains (as they spell it) are roughly the same elevations on the band of premier crus, there is more limestone in Champgains that gives a bigger wine. In 2022, this shows ripe notes of passionfruit and lime peel with an accent of hazelnut and hay. The texture is supple and rich, almost fat, but pleasantly so. The grapes are from the domaine's parcel of 0.44 hectares at the top of the slope. Drinking Window: 2027-2050.

Jasper Morris of Inside Burgundy writes 92 Points | A glowing pale lemon yellow. There is a clear white fruit charm to this, a little more chiselled than the softly welcoming Chenevottes, with a limestone length and purity at the finish. Drink from 2027-2032.

Allen Meadows of Burghound writes 91 Points | This is aromatically similar to the Maltroie though with evident floral elements. There is slightly better volume and mid-palate density to the delicious and caressing but punchy medium weight flavors that possess a healthy amount of sappy dry extract while exhibiting better overall depth and persistence. This too should be approachable young but easily repay mid-term keeping.

Expert Review - Vintage 2019

Allen Meadows of Burghound writes 90-93 Points | A cool, pure and airy nose is comprised by notes of apple, citrus and white peach. There is once again fine punch and delineation to the middle weight flavors that exude a subtle minerality on the linear, youthfully austere and bone-dry finale. This is going to need at least a few years of patience to further flesh out the finish as it's quite compact at present.

Expert Review - Vintage 2020 

Allen Meadows of Burghound | There is enough wood to merit mentioning but not so much as to overshadow the vaguely exotic and ripe aromas of white peach, apple compote, various citrus elements and a whiff of acacia blossom. The wood is also reflected by the big-bodied, powerful and overtly muscular flavors that possess outstanding richness that is buffered by both a firm minerality as well as bright acidity on the strikingly persistent, balanced and robust finale. This is not a CC of refinement but it is indisputably impressive in its fashion and a wine that should age and improve gracefully over the next 12 to 15 years and last thereafter for a similar period. In a word, superb.

Winemaker Description 

Domaine Daniel Pollier has been producing white wines across Mâcon since the 18th century, with current plantings of Chardonnay found in the appellations of Mâcon Fuissé, Mâcon-Villages, Saint-Véran, Mâcon Chaintré, and Pouilly-Fuissé, the latter of which is en route to receive Premier Cru status in the coming years. The domaine comprises 13 hectares. All of the wines are crafted solely from estate fruit, coming from vines with an average of 40 years, some of which clock in at an impressive 70 years.

Occupying vineyards to the west and south of the village of Mâcon, the appellation of St-Véran interweaves with Pouilly-Fuissé, overlapping both the Mâconnais and Beaujolais. Grown on limestone, St-Véran whites' ageability and power fall somewhere in between the wines of Mâcon-Villages and Pouilly-Fuissé.

After subtle aromas of lemon, apricot, acacia and honeysuckle, on the palate a St-Véran (always made of Charodnnay) shows fresh focus and clarity while exhibiting roundness and harmonious balance. A great St-Véran will express notes of almond, hazelnut, cinnamon, butter or toast and sometimes an exotic twist of orange peel. Seafood risotto or pasta with mushrooms are perfect pairings.