2010 Ritchie Vineyard Chloe Chardonnay

(from 38-year-old vines in the Ritchie Vineyard; all old Wente clone; 50% new oak): Bright green-gold. A flamboyant bouquet offers candied citrus fruits, white peach and pear nectar, along with honey, vanilla and ginger notes. A smoky mineral quality comes up with air and carries onto the palate, energizing the wine's deep orchard and pit fruit flavors. Shows a suave blend of richness and vivacity, finishing sappy, focused and very long.

The 2010 Chardonnay Chloe Ritchie Vineyard is direct and focused from start to finish. There is a distinct pointedness to the 2010 that is impossible to miss. Some of the other DuMol Chardonnays are richer and more voluptuous, but the Ritchie is much more linear in style, at least today. It will be interesting to see where this goes over the coming years. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2020. Winemaker Andy Smith describes 2009 as a “sweet, forward vintage,” while 2011 is more “dynamic and commercial.” Smith reserves his highest praise for 2010, which he calls his favorite among the three current vintages. In 2011, Smith bulked out 20% of his Pinot Noirs, including the entire production of the Eoin. All the 2011 Pinots came in before the rains. Smith used whole clusters only for the Aidan, as botrytis was an issue in all the other Pinot vineyards. The Charles Heintz Chardonnay came in after the rains. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to taste the 2011 Syrahs, as the final blends had not yet been put together at the time of this tasting. In broad terms, the DuMol Chardonnays are all fermented and aged in barrel, with no lees stirring. Some of the wines are aged in slightly larger 300-liter barrels, and at times the malolactic fermentations are partly blocked, which results in wines that are texturally rich but also full of energy, a combination that is rare and hard to achieve. The single-vineyard Pinots spend 14-15 months in barrel on their fine lees, while the Syrahs get a few more months in oak. At their best, the Pinots and Syrahs are compelling. Tel. (925) 254-8922