2021 Cru Winery Chardonnay Sierra Madre, Santa Maria
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 94 Points
Mature yet still lively, this Chardonnay has reached a peak worth waiting for. The nose melds aromas of toasted hazelnuts and honey in support of fruit scents of peach and baked apple, married to subtler notes of quince and pink grapefruit. It proves creamy yet is lightfooted on the palate and shows an engaging harmony of parts, as lemon peel and a hint of grapefruit, accent its richer core of peach melba and hazelnut nougat. A fine drink, ready to enjoy, it will prove a versatile dinner companion. Its counterpoints of creaminess and zest will especially uplift sauced fish and fowl entrees. 176 cases produced.
2023 Darioush Chardonnay “Signature”, Napa Valley
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 95+ Points
Richly oaky yet never short on juicy fruit or freshness, this is the best Darioush Chardonnay in recent memory. The nose is a plush medley of baked apple, pear skin, peach preserves, citric zest, vanilla, baking spice and hazelnut nougat scents. It proves every bit as plush as expected on the palate, where the fruit and oaky spice elements stay focused and are well balanced by citric zest despite the opulence that airing reveals. It may grow ever richer over the next twelve to eighteen months yet will always show its best with the more generous entrees. 3680 6-packs produced.
2022 Senses Chardonnay Charles Heintz Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 98 Points
Forthcoming, focused and distinctive, this is textbook Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay. The sharply delineated aromas are of lemon sorbet, lemon curd, pineapple core, crunchy fresh apple, vanilla wafer and toasted coconut. These scents rise above an undercurrent of saline-minerality, with every element intense and in gorgeous harmony. The flavors of lemon, pineapple, quince, fresh apple, hazelnut meringue and their zesty mineral background create an energetic tingling on the palate, and the various elements hold their focus and elegance so the wine shows fine internal tension and impressive concentration. The finish is super long and the balance already clearly food-worthy, although this classic Chardonnay may be two years or more from unveiling all of its secrets. 400 cases produced.
2022 Morlet Chardonnay “Ma Douce”, Fort Ross-Seaview
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 97+ Points
Ma Douce is always an extravagant bottling and the 2022 is no exception. The nose is a youthfully tense yet luxurious medley of lemon, dried pineapple, baked apple, honey, nutmeg, hazelnut and gently saline-edged mineral aromas. Pineapple, lemon sorbet, apple sauce, hazelnut nougat and honey flavors gradually take center stage on the palate, and this combination carries through a long-lingering finish where both oaky spice and minerality grow more integrated with airing. Certainly impressive now, it deserves another year or so to fully flesh out its aromatic and mid-palate opulence. Unfiltered. 400 cases produced.
2021 Bailarin Chardonnay Soberanes Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highland
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 94+ Points
Nicely matured and seemingly at its drinking peak, this is a fine and notably satisfying Chardonnay. The nose is a well defined harmony of baked apple, white peach, dried golden fig, lemon curd, macadamia nut, pastry crust, vanilla wafer and mineral scents. It proves as creamy-rich as expected on the palate, where lemony zest brings contrast to its medley of stone and orchard fruits and oak-derived spice. Everything lingers impressively and the wine is more or less built for service with sauced fish or fowl. It should hold its current level of appeal for another two years at minimum. 125 cases produced.
2023 Beaux Freres Chardonnay Willamette Valley
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 96 Points
Forthcoming and generous, the aromas of this delicious Chardonnay are a focused mix of baked apple, white peach and lemon cream pie fruit scents poised above rich notes of hazelnut meringue, floral honey and a hint and subtle minerality. These flavors are somewhat juicier and even more forthcoming in the mouth, where they carry through a very long, sleek, mineral-laced finish that never reveals any suggestion of heaviness. Never less than classy and satisfying, it should give pleasure for years. 797 cases produced.