Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 46

YEAR'S BEST CALIFORNIA CHARDONNAYS
M E N D O C I NO
521234

89 | Edith & Ida

$25

2018 Mendocino Morgan Le Fay Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ Lynn Wheeler makes this
wine from the Lolonis Family Vineyard, the
vines planted in 1944 and the farming certified organic. It's savory and stolid, focused on
pale chardonnay fruit and salty minerality,
an austere white to pour with earthy spreads,
like hummus or chicken liver mousse. -J.G.
(225 cases) §
521237

88 | Heron

$18

2018 Mendocino County Chardonnay
(Best Buy) ^ Laely Heron sources the fruit for
this chardonnay from the Potter Valley. Harvested at 23° Brix and fermented in stainless
steel without malolactic conversion of the
acidity, it offers up luscious pineapple and
honeyed lemon flavors without any oak to
intervene between the scents of white roses
and the salmon on the grill. -J.G. §

ANDERSON VALLEY
$70

2018 Anderson Valley Savoy Vineyard
Chardonnay ^ Cliff Lede farms this vineyard
northwest of Philo, where the vines date to
1991. Eric Sussman brings the coolness of
the site directly into the wine-it makes an
immediate zesty impression as the luscious
fruit struggles to escape from its toastedgrain restraints of oak. It feels like a wine
from a grand terroir, and proves it as air
transforms the wine over the course of several days into a plump, salty, savory notion
of the Anderson Valley's Deep End. -J.G.
(130 cases) §
521244

92 | Pennyroyal Farm

$35

2018 Anderson Valley Hammer Olsen
Vineyard Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ Sarah
Cahn Bennett, daughter of Navarro's Ted
Bennett and Deborah Cahn, oversees the
family's 100-acre sheep, goat and vineyard
ranch in Boonville, a property they converted from hay fields in 2008. Pennyroyal
produces cheeses and wine, including this
chardonnay from the family's favored block.
It's an elegant wine, with the rich feel of glycerol and honey. It's not particularly aromatic
up front, but builds to a crescendo of complexity by the end, in layers of orchard fruit
and toasted lees. -J.G. (257 cases) §
521238

91 | Kosta Browne

$165

2017 Anderson Valley Cerise Vineyard
Chardonnay ^ Kosta Browne purchased the
Cerise Vineyard in 2016, 61 acres of hillside
46

WINE & SPIRITS

90 | Copain

OCTOBER 2020

$32

2018 Anderson Valley Bahl Briney Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ Jason Drew blends this
from two vineyards, one on the west ridge
facing northeast, the other on the east
ridge facing southwest. The combination
brings together brightness and elegance
with mature fruit intensity and mushroomy
depth; a little time in the cellar should allow
the elements to meld. -J.G. (209 cases) §
521233

88 | Domaine Anderson

NAPA VALLEY
518818

91 | Raymond

$20

2017 Napa Valley Reserve Selection
Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ With its scents of
orange blossoms and gardenias, this smells
like a flower garden in June, earthy and floral underneath, layered with creamy vanilla
notes and some relieving bitterness of oak
tannins. It feels spicy and cool, built for a
lemony roast chicken. -J.G. (W&S 4/20) §

$60

2018 Anderson Valley Skycrest Chardonnay ^ This marks Ryan Zepaltas's first vintage
at Copain, after years of splitting his winemaking style between the opulently ripe
Siduri releases and his own tight cool-climate
wines under the Zepaltas label. He made this
wine from a vineyard in the eastern hills of
Anderson Valley, the vines planted in 2011
at 2,200 feet in elevation. It balances a feeling of cool altitude with leesy, oxidative notes
of buttered almonds and floral spice. -J.G.
(287 cases) §
521447

90 | Drew

521246

93 | Radio-Coteau

vines surrounded by woodlands on the east
side of Anderson Valley. Its second vintage
shares the style of Kosta Browne's Sonoma
Coast wines, cool and floral with the reductive character of a spontaneous fermentation, brawny with the influence of new
Austrian oak barrels. This is rich and tense,
tightening up to last on mouthwatering pearskin flavors. There's lots of material here to
develop over several years in the cellar. -J.G. §
521232

$29

2017 Anderson Valley Chardonnay (Best
Buy) ^ Darrin Low blends this chardonnay at Roederer Estate's still-wine project,
using estate-owned parcels, including sites
in Boonville and others farther northwest
toward the coast. It's overtly smoky at first,
with fleshy pear flavors under the influence
of oak. The wine opens toward sunny fruit
and silky textures, ready to decant for grilled
mackerel or bluefish. -J.G. (980 cases) §

519828

91 | Stag's Leap
Wine Cellars

$34

90 | Beringer

$23

2018 Napa Valley Karia Chardonnay (Best
Buy) ^ Clean and brisk, this takes creamy
Napa Valley ripeness and adds a smoky, rawalmond depth of flavor. Pour it with mackerel pâté. -J.G. §
521230
2018 Napa Valley Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^
Flinty notes of reduction yield to this wine's
savory perfume, a combination that might
include chicken broth and lemon thyme.
The structure is tight, the flavors clean in the
end, ready to serve with tea-smoked chicken.
-J.G. §

MENDOCINO RIDGE
521252

91 | Trail Marker

$38

2018 Mendocino Ridge Manchester Ridge
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Drew Huffine makes
this wine from fruit grown on a sandstone
ridge at 2,000 feet in elevation, with a direct
view of the Pacific. It has the acidity you
might expect from such a location, some of
it converted to a creamy richness, some of it
maintaining its mineral edge and pointing
in a chamomile direction. -J.G. (75 cases) §

521257

90 | Hendry

$35

2018 Napa Valley Barrel Fermented Chardonnay ^ This soft chardonnay has the sweetness of a yellow plum tart, complete with the
buttery pastry notes. Touches of lemon balm
and saltiness tame that sweetness, lengthening the flavors, balanced to enjoy on their
own. -J.G. (900 cases) §
521454

https://www.stagsleapwinecellars.com/swc/wine-shop/all-wine/5637157329.c https://www.hendrywines.com/wines/

Wine & Spirits - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2020