2021 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay Purrington Rued Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2021 Chardonnay Purrington Rued Vineyard is bright and nervy, with terrific energy and tension driving the profile. In this vintage, the Purrington Rued is a bit more austere than it usually is, with fewer of its typical aromatic signatures, but all the elements are present. A whole range of savory and mineral notes extend the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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The 2021 Chardonnay Purrington Rued Vineyard is highly floral with jasmine, orange flower, flinty earth, and a hint of tropical lychee fruit. Medium-bodied, it’s fully dry and has mineral drive, a spine of fresh acidity, notes of grapefruit pith and yellow flowers, and a bit of a savory feel on the finish. This is an outlier in terms of how tropical it is, but it has wonderful precision. Drink 2024-2030. Owned by Thomas Rivers Brown and Genevieve Marie Welsh and based in Calistoga, Rivers Marie specializes in single varietal, single vineyard expressions of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon. One of Sonoma's most prolific winemakers and consultants, Thomas Rivers Brown grew up in South Carolina and later went on to work at Turley before carving his own path forward. I met with Thomas and Will Segui, the assistant winemaker, at the Calistoga winery this May to taste the wines for this report. Having been hit incredibly hard in 2020, their 2021s are showing even better than I could have anticipated from last year’s barrel samples. These are some of the best wines I have ever tasted from Rivers Marie, with exceptional balance and finesse.