Chalk Hill Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2018
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Robert
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Subtle gold tones shine through in this 2018 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Hints of baking spices and warm apple pie meld together to meet the nose. The fruit manifests rich textural body with extended notes of toasted hazelnut, vanilla custard and crème brulee that rein in the perfect balance of acidity and minerality.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Barrel aged 10 months sur lie and with 100% malolactic fermentation result in a pillow-like, creamy, voluptuous wine. Lemon curd, mandarin and a toasty char awaken the palate. Notes of buttered hazelnut may be unctuous, but this elegant white is certainly not flabby: it supports a fine acidity and underlying minerality with aromas of crème brulée and banana.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay Estate has lush scents of baked apples, honeysuckle, honeycomb and hay with notes of quince paste and almonds. The palate is medium-bodied, rounded and slightly buttery with a long, uplifted finish.
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2022-
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Tasting
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Robert
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Perhaps no other winery captures the casual luxury of Sonoma County better than Chalk Hill Estate. Founded nearly four decades ago, this spectacular 1300-acre property features 300 acres of vineyards, wilderness areas, winery, hospitality center, culinary garden, residence, stables, equestrian pavilion, sports fields, fishing and swimming ponds, and guest houses.
The winery's vineyards are thoughtfully woven through the native foliage and contoured to fit the intricate terrain. More than two-thirds of the Chalk Hill Estate remains uncultivated. The higher elevations offer stunning views of the Russian River Valley to the west and the Mayacamas Mountains to the east.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.