2023 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay

One of the finest expressions of this bottling in recent memory, the 2023 Chardonnay Estate Monte Bello Vineyard was matured mainly in neutral American and French oak with a 20% addition of new wood equally divided between the two origins. It exudes a classically broad, creamy bouquet with notable focus and floral overtones, pleasantly accented by a touch of reduction. The palate is rich and enveloping yet admirably lifted by invigorating acidity that carries through the textural, caramelized finish.

Full bottle 1,225 g. Fruit from Monte Bello, primarily from vines planted 1982–1998. Grapes are whole-cluster pressed and barrel-fermented. Both primary and secondary (malolactic) fermentations are completed by ambient yeasts and bacteria. Wine is aged 15 months in 85% American and 15% French oak; 15% new, 20% one-year-old and, 65% four- and five-year old oak. Minimum effective SO 2 for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 74 ppm over the course of ageing); pad-filtered at bottling.  Medium gold. Butterscotch apples – rich and ripe and creamy – it smells like a warm hug. Beautiful balance with plenty of acid to cut through the richness and oak spice and to drive out the finish. Classic California Chardonnay done right. The cool 2023 season seems to have played very well with this site's Chardonnay. (SCJ)

The 2023 Chardonnay Estate is a unicorn wine, with the acids naturally occurring with ease in this cool, long, extended growing season that the wine world is rightfully excited about, producing wines of tremendous elegance and balance, sourced entirely from Monte Bello Estate. The minerality is off the charts, exuberantly defining the wine after a barrel fermentation of nine months on the lees in 85% American and 15% French oak, 15% of it new. Gorgeously lengthy and bright, winemaker John Olney recommends that for primary fruit, it's best to drink through the first 7-8 years; for fans of later-aging wines, wait 20 years. I adore this wine. Set in the Santa Cruz Mountains with a second winery and vineyard acreage in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley called Lytton Springs, Ridge made its first Monte Bello in 1962 (the Monte Bello Vineyard dates back to 1885) and is devoted to single-vineyard winemaking, what it calls “pre-industrial winemaking,” organic and sustainable farming, and full transparency; it is one of the few wineries to list ingredients on its back labels. Winemaker Paul Draper joined in 1969. The winemaking team today consists of head winemaker John Olney, who has been on the team since 1996, Lytton Springs winemaker Shauna Rosenblum, and assistant winemaker Michael Bairdsmith. It remains one of the great names in California wine, celebrated for making ageable wines.