Cool Chardonnay from our newest six Vintner Partners

When the weather's hot, Chardonnay is always, inevitably, the people's choice. A richer style Chardonnay is a great cocktail wine because a rich Chardonnay can stand on its own. Chardonnays also have the generosity and aging when they are from cooler sites. Chardonnay makes a great food pairing with fish, chicken and pork right off the grill.

Our August Chardonnay offer consists of wines from the cool Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast and the coolest part of the Sonoma Valley. They are great representations of our six newest Vintner Members and offer a nice variety of styles. Enjoy!

The Wines

2016 Coursey-Graves, Sonoma Coast

Cabell Coursey cut his teeth in Burgundy and New Zealand and has worked with famed Chardonnay winemaker Andy Smith at Dumol and Kosta Browne.

This wine starts with aromas of Lemon curd, peach and hints of apple. On the palate the wine slowly reveals lemongrass, pink grapefruit and honeycomb with interplaying citrus and tropical flavors followed by a long silken texture. Finishes dry with crisp minerality.

2017 Flambeaux, Sonoma Coast

Three generations of the Murray family have come from the rich loam of the Mississippi River to the gravelly soil of the Dry Creek Valley to craft Flambeaux—limited production artisan wine celebrating the rich diversity of Sonoma County, California terroirs.

Winemaker Ryan Pritchard has made wine at Williams Selyem, Copain Custom Crush, Medlock Ames, and is the Associate Winemaker at Three Sticks in Sonoma. Ryan crafts some of Sonoma County’s finest Chardonnay. He joins the Murray family at Flambeaux with a keen interest in crafting wine that showcases unique terroirs.

The 2017 Chardonnay is balanced, bright, and elegant. A warm, toasty spice frames lemon curd and tropical fruit flavors, while notes of minerality add a facet of intrigue.

2016 La Follette, Sun Chase Vineyard, Petaluma Gap, Sonoma Coast

La Follette embraces the old-world concept of terroir: that each individual vineyard site has a unique expression, that can be expressed through the wines made from grapes grown in that place. The winemaker's role is to create a wine that is transparent to the site, pure in its expression and enjoyable to drink. As we work with these sites, vintage after vintage, our understanding deepens and the wines become more reflective of that place, at that time.

One of the most highly sought-after vineyards in the Petaluma Gap, our Chardonnay block sits on a sun-drenched, rocky incline where fruit yields are naturally limited. Sun Chase Vineyard is named for the "sun chasing the fog" in the morning. Sun Chase experiences chilled sunlight that nurtures crisp, refreshing acidity in ripening Chardonnay.

Aromas of Anjou pear and crushed rock, with a hint of wintergreen emerge from the glass. Notes of crisp citrus fruit and blossom introduce a pulse of acidity that persists through to the finish. Deceptively light-bodied on entry, the wine has a long, cooling finish of green apple.

2016 Lambert Bridge, Chambers Vineyard, Fountain Grove District

Lambert Bridge Winery sits nestled among redwood forested hills and rolling vineyards, just west of Dry Creek and its namesake trestle bridge. Winemaker Jennifer Higgins was born and raised in Sonoma County, spent a number of years working with the legendary Zelma Long of Simi Winery, then took on her first official production role working with Jill Davis at William Hill Winery. During this time, she worked tirelessly, learning the ropes at a large Napa Valley winery prior to her eleven-year tenure at Lancaster Estate where she collaborated often with the iconic winemaking consultant David Ramey.

The wine is a pale golden straw, with aromas of lemon blossom, peaches and cream, and just a touch of caramel. It has a wonderfully creamy mouthfeel, thanks to its full malo-lactic fermentation. Apricots and peaches are first on the palate, followed by a more tropical fresh, ripe mango note, with a hint of vanilla. There is a delightfully acidic lemon-curd element here as well, that keeps with wine lifted throughout, all the way through to its long, satisfying finish.

2016 Price Family Three Sticks, Durell Vineyard, Sonoma Valley

The Three Sticks philosophy is to produce wines of world class quality from exceptional vineyards in Sonoma County, including our estate property Durell Vineyards. We are passionate about what we do and we hope you like the wines as much as we enjoy making them!

Bob Cabral, former winemaker at Williams Selyem is at the helm with a fabulous winemaking team. Grapes are sourced from their Durell Vineyard, from the oldest blocks of the vineyard in the hills above the Sonoma Valley. These elevated areas of the property create wind tunnels, lowering the temperature for developing fruit. Typical of Durell Chardonnay, this wine bursts with lemon meringue and orange blossom, with notes of white tea and honey. 2016 Durell Chardonnay marks 19 years since they purchased Durell, the birthplace of Price Family Vineyards and Estates.

2015 Red Car, Ritchie Vineyard, Sonoma Coast

Red Car was founded in 2000 with 50 cases of wine made from a single ton of Syrah. In 2004, Red Car purchased 125 acres of land and began developing vineyards in the wild coastal ridges north of Sonoma County’s Bodega Bay, a region now known as the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. Here, the interplay of warm sunshine, cool Pacific breezes and sandstone soils would yield the age-worthy wines of structure and complexity that had captured their imagination.

For their Chardonnay, they began purchasing fruit from Ritchie Vineyards. Few new world Chardonnay sites rival the famed Ritchie Vineyard. Aubert, Dumol, Ramey and others have showcased the quality of this vineyard for decades, crafting some of the most sought-after Chardonnay this side of the Cote d’Or. Well-farmed old vines (40 years +) planted to true old Wente clone in Goldridge Loam soils is a hard combination to beat. What intrigued Red Car about Ritchie was the opportunity to turn our predecessors’ riper style on its head, and harness the potential of the vineyard to create a California Chardonnay with balance, perfume, texture, minerality, and nuance.

The Offer

$325 per six-pack - 10% discount on a case of 12
You can mix and match the wines separately at wine list pricing