Wine & Spirits - October 2019 - 49

YEAR'S BEST US CHARDONNAYS
his career at Mount Eden Vineyards; at Foppiano, he's been allowing some of the lots to
ferment and undergo malolactic fermentation on their own, then extending the barrel aging, presenting a 2017 with lemongrass
tension and bright yellow flavors of nectarine
and apple. It's spicy and nutty, cool and fresh.
(940 cases) -J.G.

lemon, almonds and nectarine. Tense and
fragrant, this has several years of development ahead. (147 cases) -J.G.
517533

94 | MacRostie

$46

2017 Russian River Valley Dutton Ranch
Chardonnay ^ This wine blends fruit farmed
by the Dutton family at four parcels growing
on Goldridge soils and cooled by the Pacific
fog. Heidi Bridenhagen harvests and ferments the parcels separately, blending them
into a chardonnay driven by the clarity of its
fruit. It buzzes with honeyed freshness, the
wine's supple density saturated with scents
of yellow apples and pineapple, the richness
relieved by a lemony brightness in the end.
This will satisfy people who love archetypal
California chardonnay, as well as those who
prefer fresh, coastal whites. (601 cases) -J.G.
517261

93 | Davis Bynum

$38

2017 Russian River Valley Dijon Clone
809 River West Vineyard Chardonnay ^
Greg Morthole ferments this chardonnay
in French oak barrels, where it undergoes
malolactic conversion, then he ages it for
ten months. Still, the cool, spicy freshness of
the fruit from this vineyard on Westside Road
carries through the wine in notes of lemon
blossoms, lemon zest and deeper tones of
bay leaf. The wine's density and savor keep
it grounded, even as the bright fruit gives it
a lift. (298 cases) -J.G.

516963

93 | Williams Selyem

$58

2017 Russian River Valley Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Charles Heintz farms two
acres of chardonnay at his family's ranch in
Occidental, planted to Clone 4 in 1980. The
old vines make the most of the coastal fog
and Goldridge sandy loam soils, producing
a concentrated wine that tastes like a food,
nourishing in its vinous power. It's luscious
and substantial, a chardonnay that tastes
like something you might describe as sweet
pineapple roasted over a fire, or a fire-roasted
apple pie, but better to taste it yourself and
get closer to the complex richness and coastal
freshness. Decant it first if you open this now;
it will only gain complexity with four or five
years in the bottle. -J.G.

514785

92 | Gary Farrell

$65

2016 Russian River Valley Rochioli Vineyard Chardonnay ^ There's lovely, bright
fruit at the center of this wine, surrounded
in scents of oak, gentle creaminess and a firm
toasted-lees savor. Long, open and gracious,
it's a finely grown chardonnay that will take
well to a few years of bottle aging. (W&S
2/19; 555 cases) -J.G.

517856
517527

517571

93 | Merry Edwards

$66

2016 Russian River Valley Olivet Lane
Chardonnay ^ The old vines at Olivet Lane
were planted to a Wente selection in 1973.
They focus this wine's complexity on savory
scents of honeycomb. The fruit has the fresh
intensity of grated lemon zest, opening with
air to become toasty, heady and rich. It's a
white for seared scallops or wild mushroom
risotto. (495 cases) -J.G.

92 | Balletto

$28

92 | Foppiano

$25

2016 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
(Best Buy) ^ A gentle and generously rich
chardonnay, this holds its floral fruit tight
before broadening out into creamy, chalky,
pithy citrus flavors. The fruit shows some
evolution, along with the dusty, earthy feel
of the lees. Pour it with prawns in brown butter. (1,400 cases) -J.G.
517686
2017 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
(Best Buy) ^ We weren't surprised to see Foppiano's zinfandels and petite sirahs performing well in our June issue tastings-those are
varieties the Foppiano family considers their
specialties. But it was surprising to find this
bright, tense and fully saturated chardonnay from Foppiano, where a new winemaker
came on board in 2015. Nova Perrill started

92 | Patz & Hall

$44

92 | Patz & Hall

$44

2017 Russian River Valley Dutton Ranch
Chardonnay ^ Warren Dutton was an early
proponent of chardonnay in Sonoma; in
1974, he planted the Mill Station block in
Green Valley. James Hall includes the fruit
from those vines in his Dutton Ranch chardonnay, as well as other blocks of heirloom
selections. He ferments it without added
yeasts, taking it through malolactic conversion and aging it in French oak barrels (35
percent new). That barrel time lends the wine
scents of nutmeg without diminishing the
fruit's crunchy, old-vine concentration. It's
sleek and firm, the fruit completely saturating the wood spice and lasting with the cool
feel of biting into a crisp yellow apple. -J.G.
514534
2016 Russian River Valley Dutton Ranch
Chardonnay ^ Selected from several old-vine
blocks at Dutton Ranch, predominantly heirWINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2019

https://www.williamsselyem.com/wine#all https://www.garyfarrellwinery.com/wines/ https://www.patzhall.com/shop/chardonnay https://www.ballettovineyards.com/shop/?view=product&slug=2016%20Chardonnay%20-%20RRV https://www.merryedwards.com/xe/xe.asp?page=viewitem&p=16ch7&cat=cv%2Dolivet%2Dlane%2Dchardonnay

Wine & Spirits - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2019