Lions Head Panthera Chardonnay 2016
-
Wilfred
Wong
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: One 0f the best reasons to drink Russian River Valley Chardonnays is to enjoy their richness and layers on the palate. The 2016 Hess Collection Panthera Chardonnay shows up bigtime in the department. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers excellent richness on the palate. Its fully-ripened aromas and beautiful palate textures should make it a delicious pairing partner with oven baked Cornish game hen. (Tasted: November 6, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
Other Vintages
2021-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
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 standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.