Chardonnay Wine

Winemaker Description 

Winemaker Description 

Straw with light golden hues. Aromas of tropical fruit and green apple predominate.
Delicate and well-balanced, this wine has a delicious chardonnay character derived from time in stainless steel rather than oak. 

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2020

Wine Enthusiast 92 Points | This harmonious and well-balanced wine opens with light butter, toast and Bartlett pear aromas, then fills the mouth with rich pear and peach flavors accented by vanilla. A full body is nicely paired with good acidity, so the wine works fine as a cocktail or with lunch and dinner.

Jeb Dunnuck 90 Points | A youthful medium golden yellow, the 2020 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast is fresh and ripe with aromas of pineapple, almond, and preserved citrus. Medium to full-bodied, with good lift to its notes of crunchy saline earth, yellow flowers, pithy Meyer lemon, and ripe golden apple, it strikes a nice balance between its fruit and savory minerality. Drink it over the next several years

Wine Spectator 90 Points | Features fresh citrus, apple and melon notes that are slightly tangy, with mouthwatering acidity and details of pickled ginger, lemon zest, green almond and orange blossoms. Drink now. 5,000 cases made.

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 2021 

Burhound 92-94 Points | An elegant, pure and ultra-fresh nose offers up notes of lilac, rose petal, white peach, tea and citrus zest. There is a markedly more refined mouthfeel to the utterly delicious and highly seductive medium weight flavors that are more precise, all wrapped in a citrusy, impressively persistent and youthfully austere finale. This is very classy and I particularly like the underlying tension and balance that should also permit this beauty to age effortlessly over the next 12 to 15 years. In a word, excellent.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2022

Australian Wine Companion 95 Points | The Penfolds chardonnay wines have been in fine form in recent years. Here it is the Bin 311, hailing from the regional triumvirate of Tasmania, Tumbarumba and the Adelaide Hills, aged in French Oak (34% new) for eight months. Pale straw with green flashes and a tight, lemony aromatic profile with notes of nectarine, lime zest, lemon curd, grilled nuts, crushed stone and minerals, plus a liminal whiff of struck flint. Elegant and pure with a fine framework, racy mineral-laden acid propulsion and a light textural phenolic pressure on the palate. It's an elegant, mineral-driven wine and a damn good one at that.

94 Points James Suckling | Flint. Kumquat, lime zest and stone fruit allusions. Cool climate Tasmania and Tumbarumba fruit. Mid-weighted and tautly furled with a core of fruit sweetness that expands across the filigreed finish. Long! I like this wine. While it is reductive in the contemporary Australian vein, it is far less so than the Penfolds chardonnay style of just a few years ago, with a relaxed glide across the finish. Creamed cashew and praline at its core, conferring generosity. Real juice, thrust and crunch to this. Drink or hold.

93 Points The Wine Advocate | The 2022 Bin 311 Chardonnay hails from three regions: Tasmania (38%), Tumbarumba (33%) and the Adelaide Hills (29%). It matured in French oak for eight months (34% new). Crushed salted nuts, white peach and layers of nectarine and green apple populate the palate. It's svelte, polished and classy to a tee. It has the Penfolds phenolic stamp of seamlessness without being glossy or overdone. Lovely wine. Pleasure here! It was a lovely season in all three regions.

Winemaker Description 

Pale straw with lime green hues. An exhilarating Chardonnay. The benefit of multi-regional blending is evident, with each distinct region bringing nuance to the final blend. Struck flint and steely minerality are a nod to the Tasmanian inclusion. Subtle white stone fruit and cured lemon suggestive of the Adelaide Hills. While lime, lemon and wet stone minerality a reflection of the high-altitude vines of Tumbarumba. A hint of Tahitian lime zest ‘oil’ adds an exotic note, tempered by a lemon curd/ pastry sweetness. An exemplar of the modern Penfolds Chardonnay style. An elegant wine, with lovely cool climate fruit providing ample palate weight. Honeydew melon, white peach, cashew and nougat drive the flavor profile. There is a trademark minerality running through a seam of soft acidity. The phenolics are grippy and textured, melding seamlessly with fine grained French oak. This is a wine punching well above its weight division. Drinking beautifully now but will hold for a decade or more for those who like a more developed expression of the varietal.

Winemaker Description 

Winemaker Description

Mevushal. Israel. The wine is produced under strict controlled conditions from top-quality grapes of the winery, from vineyards in the Upper Galilee and Kiryat Anavim. The final blend combines vigorous wines made in new oak casks after aging an additional six months, with wines which aged in stainless steel vessels.

This combination creates a unique complexity- typical high- quality fruit which emerges from an intense, full body which is then perfected in a bottle.

Expert Review - Vintage 2021

Jim Gordon of the Wine Enthusiast writes 91 Points | Tasty, fresh-sliced apples and pears are dressed in floral tones that give this smooth, rounded wine a generous, fruity expression. A medium to full body and rich texture make it melt in the mouth. 

Winemaker Description 

This wine is vibrant and very aromatic with scents of lightly baked apple, pie crust, melon, nectarine, clove, oak spice, and toasted sourdough bread with butter. On the palate you will find rich flavors of peach, oak spice, and baked apple. It is elegantly structured with citrus-laced acidity and lengthy, toasty oak finish.

Expert Reviews

Wine Spectator 96 Points:  A gorgeous blond bombshell of a Champagne, fragrant with roasted hazelnut, vanilla and smoke notes that waft through layers of poached pear and quince, pastry cream, pain d'épices and candied ginger. This is sculpted by a vibrant acidity that's seamlessly knit to the plush, silky mousse and chalky underpinning.

Wine Advocate 95 Points:  The 2012 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is showing beautifully out of the gates, offering up demonstrative aromas of sweet golden orchard fruit, buttery croissants, peach and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and enveloping, it's a rich, textural, vinous Comtes somewhat reminiscent of the brilliant 2002. If it gains in tension and cut (as the 2002 did and as I suspect the 2012 will) with more time on cork, it will make this initial rating seem conservative.

James Suckling 99 Points:  This is a fantastic and refined Blanc de Blancs. So layered and complex, with lemon curd, chalk, hazelnuts, pastries, baked apples and almond croissants. Structured and tightly wound, with almost imperceptible bubbles. Delicious salty notes at the end. Beautiful.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2021 

Burghound 93 Points | A more reserved if equally airy and elegant speaks more of acacia, green apple and zest, all of which is trimmed in enough wood to notice. Here too there is excellent volume and punch to the medium-bodied that flash noticeably more minerality on the beautifully persistent finish. Like the Pucelle, this possesses a simply gorgeous texture that can be replicated by no other commune in the Côte. It's worth pointing out that the Pucelle and Cailleret are quite similar qualitatively but they offer two very different expressions. Outstanding. ♥

Decanter 94 Points | Chartron’s Clos du Cailleret is a regal premier cru. This emblematic cuvée of the Chartron family is particularly successful in 2021, with exotic aromas of guava and pomelo, lemon, and spice. The texture is concentrated and rich, with no lack of acidity but an equally impressive richness in extract for balance. The vines come from the Chartron parcel of nearly a hectare at the northern end of the Clos. The grapes are lightly crushed and slowly pressed before fermentation in cask (25% new)—genuinely delicious wine. 

Expert Review - Vintage 2019

Winemaker Description 

Boasts fresh, fragrant, apple, melon and pear aromas with a hint of oak spice. Rich and mouthfilling on the palate, its smooth, beautifully balanced, yellow apple, nectarine and honeydew melon flavors segue into a long, succulent finish enhanced by refreshing mineral and spicy oak tones. Released soon after bottling, our Napa Valley Chardonnay hits its stride after 6-8 months in the bottle and rewards 5-7 years of aging.

This is a versatile pairing wine—enjoy it with grilled seafood and nearly any selection of cheeses.

Expert Review - Vintage 2019

Burghound 94 points | There is just enough wood and menthol elements present to be worth noting surrounding the citrusy apple, pear and exotic tea-scented nose. The bigger, richer and more sophisticated medium weight plus flavors possess evident power as well as a lovely sappiness that coats the palate on the delicious, highly complex and strikingly long finale. Like the Bâtard, this beauty is built for the long haul though it could actually be approachable after only 7 to 8 years. In brief, this is extremely promising. 

Expert Review - Vintage 2020 

Burghound 95 Points | A wonderfully spicy and beautifully layered nose offers up notes of citrus confit, acacia blossom, anise, jasmine tea and an interesting hint of clove. Much like the Bâtard, the mouthfeel of the broad-shouldered flavors is sleek and intense with impressive reserves of sap buffering the hugely long finish. Like several of the wines in the range, this will need to add depth with time in bottle, but the Blain Montrachet has a fine track record in that regard. I

Expert Review - Vintage 2020

Tim Atkin,MW 96 points 96 Points | One of the great Chardonnays of South America - and, indeed, the southern hemisphere - this owes as much to the wines of Jura and Jerez as it does to those of Burgundy. Waxy, leesy and very lightly wooded, with notes of fresh bread and rock salt, some tannic grip from skin contact and layers of citrus peel and grapefruit." 94 points Descorchados "A combination of the two vineyards that Ventisquero has in Huasco, Loncomilla and Nicolasa, both strongly influenced by the presence of the sea breezes, the "camanchaca" fog that spreads out into the valley, providing humidity in a desert landscape. This has the minerality of the place, the way in which the acidity moves through the palate, accompanied by ripe white fruits and earthy, mineral tones that give it a touch of complexity. A chardonnay strongly influenced by its place.

Expert Reviews

Expert Review - Vintage 2020

Wine Enthusiast 91 Points | Tangy green apple and mineral intensity is tempered by richer golden apple and baking spice flavors in this nervy, well balanced, light-bodied wine. Tastes refreshing and mouthwatering.

Winemaker Description 

The balance of texture and freshness seen in the 2020 Quartz Creek is rare in Chardonnay. This harmony allows for versatility at the table

The vibrancy of fresh citrus on the palate is outstanding with chilled seafood like dungeness crab and razor clams. Still, there is enough texture and savory characteristics to pair with classic chicken marsala. 

Expert Review

Wine Advocate 96 Points: The 2014 Extra Brut Les Chemins d'Avize Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru is fabulous. Rich, ample and potent, the 2014 possesses tremendous density from start to finish. Apricot, spice, dried flowers, graphite and lemon confit all build in a Champagne of enormous resonance. The pedigree here is evident. Chemins d'Avize is a blend from the Chemin de Plivot and Chemin de Flavigny lieux-dits. It was vinified in neutral oak and bottled with dosage of two grams per liter. Disgorged: June, 2021. 

Expert Reviews

Wine Spectator 94 Points |  Lightly toasty on the nose, with grilled brioche, smoke and spice accents, this is fresh and citrusy on the plushly creamy palate. Reveals Meyer lemon, poached apricot, grated ginger and fresh lemon thyme enriched by chopped almond and biscuit. Long, well-honed finish. Chardonnay. Drink now through 2031. 200 cases imported.

Wine Advocate 94 Points |  When Gilles de Larouzière took the reins chez Henriot and tasted the vins clairs of the 2016 vintage with his team, one cuvée from Avize stood out from the crowd enough that it seemed to merit a tirage of its own. The result is the 2016 Brut L'inattendue, disgorged after four years on the lees with four grams per liter dosage. It's a demonstrative, expressive Champagne, bursting with aromas of white peach, crisp orchard fruit and confit lemon mingled with subtle hints of buttery pastry, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny and attractively vinous palate, its fleshy core of fruit complemented by a pretty pinpoint mousse. Already drinking well, it's testimony to the exciting things happening at this historic house.

Decanter 94 Points |  Slightly smoky, bolstered by a chalky touch to the flint-accented nose which expresses an array of white and citrus fruit, as well as an enticing floral component. The mouthfeel has crystalline purity and is finely balanced, with citrussy acidity that delivers freshness and lift on the chalk-textured, flower-infused finish. Just the right amount of refreshing bitterness makes this an ideal partner for gastronomic dishes. Malolactic fermentation is de rigueur for Henriot. Ageing on lees before bottling was carried out in stainless steel. Dosage of 4g/l and disgorged in June 2021. 

Winemaker Description

Our popular, estate-grown Saracina Chardonnay is a beam of pure sunshine in the glass. Made in an ultra-refreshing, unoaked style (that’ll have you and your friends reaching for a second pour), it offers up a complex nose of Asian pear and fresh nectarine. On the palate, you’re in for lively citrus zest/orchard-fruit character with a seam of mouthwatering minerality running through the long, elegant finish.

You’ll love how versatile it is with food—pair it with everything from fresh, white-fleshed fish to chicken. 

Winemaker Description 

Enjoy the perfect pairing of tradition and quality with 1848 Winery's 2nd Generation Chardonnay Kosher 2020.

This Kosher wine from Israel boasts a rich, authentic taste, making it the perfect choice for any occasion. Discover the true essence of Kosher winemaking in every sip.