2022 Ridge Chardonnay Estate

Buttered citrus, pineapple, spicy wood, and flower oil notes all emerge from Ridge's 2022 Chardonnay Estate, which comes all from the Monte Bello Vineyard on the eastern side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Beautifully pure, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated, it has a Meursault-like oak character, beautiful mid-palate depth, bright acidity, and a gorgeous finish. California Chardonnay doesn't get much better, and this ripe, opulent, yet flawlessly balanced beauty will evolve for at least a decade.

Full bottle 1,220 g. Fruit from the Monte Bello Estate Vineyard. Barrel fermented. Full malolactic conversion. From the wonderfully detailed label: 'Bottled Jan 24. A dry, warm growing season resulted in reduced yields with small berries and concentrated flavours. We picked nine parcels over a two-week period from late August to early September. The grapes were pressed as whole clusters and barrel-fermented as separate lots. The next summer, after malolactic finished, [the lots] were combined for this fine chardonnay ... Ingredients: hand-harvested, estate-grown grapes, indigenous yeast, naturally occurring malolactic bacteria, oak from barrel-ageing; minimum effective SO 2 .'  Medium gold. HUGE nose – old-school California Chardonnay done right – all the oak, all the malolactic creamy notes, really rich, ripe peach and yellow-apple fruit with an unusual metallic edge. Fresh acidity on the palate but very round. Finishes with vanilla and spice from the oak. (SCJ)

Wonderfully concentrated and full-bodied but somehow light on its feet. The limestone soil and Wente clone vines planted in 1982 help give it an almost dense but elegant feel, with minerals, lime zest, a touch of vanilla bean and chalk. Great balance and lively acidity lead to a long finish. Drink or hold.