Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 49

YEAR'S BEST CALIFORNIA CHARDONNAYS
fruit from their now legendary vines. Theresa
Heredia, who makes the wines today, continues that relationship, making some of
her most compelling chardonnays and pinot
noirs from the Rochioli's old-vine fruit. Her
2017 is pretty epic, a massive wine that's actually refreshing. The richness of the flavors is
not aggressive: The robust loquat and nectarine power seems to coast along on invisible
rails, a salty acidity keeping the wine tight
and controlled. This will benefit from several
years in the cellar, or give it several hours in
a decanter if you open it now, as a luscious
white for Dungeness crab. -J.G. (397 cases) §

vines face northwest, developing intensely
concentrated fruit in flavors of yellow plum
and cantaloupe rind. The wine is broad and
oaky at first, then extends into almond-skin
savor as the fruit fills it out, austere and not
at all sweet. Cellar it for a year or two to serve
with roast veal. -J.G. (169 cases) §

521026

521030

93 | Gary Farrell

521025

94 | Patz & Hall

$44

2018 Russian River Valley Dutton Ranch
Chardonnay ^ James Hall selects the fruit for
this wine from 11 blocks farmed by the Dutton family. Most of the vines are older plantings of heritage clones and selections, a mix
that seems to respond to a slow, spontaneous
fermentation and development in French
oak barrels (35 percent new). The 2018 builds
to a savory and ornate chardonnay, a wine
with traction that digs into scents of violets
and game, jasmine and butterscotch, giving
a sweet impression without any actual sweetness. There's yellow and orange citrus fruit,
but the main impression is earthy, with notes
of lobster mushroom and lobster broth in a
mineral finish. It's floral, clean, intense wine,
with stature and resistance to oxygen. Decant
it for crab Louis, or cellar it for years. -J.G. §

93 | Gary Farrell

$60

2017 Russian River Valley Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Some of Kent Ritchie's
chardonnay vines date back to his original
planting of heritage selections in 1972. The

$65

2017 Russian River Valley Rochioli-Allen
Vineyards Chardonnay ^ This wine's darktoned, distinctive fruit character may be confusing at first, seeming hard and a little vegetal, like underripe strawberry, Asian melon
and nutmeats. Patience is rewarded if you
give this chardonnay plenty of air, allowing
all the funk to resolve into a complex, spicy
and lasting coolness. It takes on the shadowed forest-floor scents of woodland mushrooms and earth, even as the melon flavors
sustain the wine's freshness. Built to cellar.
-J.G. (503 cases) §
521011

93 | Gibbs

$44

2018 Russian River Valley Bacigalupi
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ The Gibbs family has been growing grapes in St. Helena
since the 1950s, and started to bottle their
own wine in 2013. Craig Handly makes the
wines with his son, Spencer Gibbs Handly,
producing both estate-farmed wines and
some from purchased fruit, like this Bacigalupi chardonnay. The wine melds savory and
sweet notes in a way that brings to mind an
old-fashioned Italianate California style-
the dried citrus flavors of pannetone, savory
sorrel and bitter herbs, fresh and mild yellow plum... One panelist described a balance
between early- and late-harvested fruit, lasting on light notes of flowers and spice. The
flavors develop with air, holding clean and
tight, refined and lasting. -J.G. (179 cases) §
519788

92 | DeLoach

521028

of the sleek texture and clean flavors. Pour
this wine with lemony pan-roasted sea bass.
-J.G. (W&S 4/20; 137 cases) §

$52

2017 Russian River Valley Middle Reach
Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Vines on a
northwest-facing hillside provide the fruit
for this vinous and elegant chardonnay. Its
lovely richness is powered as much by citrus fruit as it is by a pork-broth savor. Oak
girds it with spice, but doesn't get in the way

92 | Gary Farrell

$35

92 | Hartford Court

$50

92 | Kosta Browne

$85

92 | MacRostie

$46

2018 Russian River Valley Russian River
Selection Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ This
wine has the youthful insistence of a newly
released Chablis, with tart cider-apple acidity and grassy notes. It's creamy and blunt in
its undeveloped intensity, formidable in its
tension. Give this a year in bottle; it should
develop with elegance. -J.G. §
521500
2018 Russian River Valley Four Hearts
Vineyards Chardonnay ^ Fresh Granny
Smith-apple crunch and vibrant lime zestiness focus this wine on the coast and the
grape, tamping down the oak influence to
a structural component. The grapes are predominantly from Tom Dehlinger's vineyard
on Laguna Ridge, where the vines are more
than 40 years old. They deliver a tight wine
with firm minerality, giving it a brisk uplift
in the end. -J.G. §
521032
2018 Russian River Valley One Sixteen
Chardonnay ^ This is a blend from nine vineyards, the fruit spontaneously fermented in a
combination of French oak barrels and foudres, as well as concrete tanks. One-third of
the wine rests in new French oak barrels for
15 months, the balance in a range of other
vessels: stainless-steel tanks, French oak foudres, concrete tanks and concrete eggs. All of
those elements come together in a wine of
intricate complexity, buzzing with tart whitecranberry freshness, ripe pineapple richness,
floral notes of agave and prickly pear, a little
spicy tomatillo and lime. Give it time in a
decanter and those complementary flavors
integrate into a fascinating whole. -J.G. §
521006
2018 Russian River Valley Bacigalupi
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ This grows at Bacigalupi's Frost Ranch, where MacRostie
sources a block of chardonnay propagated
from diverse heritage selections in a mix of
WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2020

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Wine & Spirits - October 2020

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