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93POINTS
17¼/20
Ridge Estate Chardonnay 2021
Santa Cruz Mountains, San Francisco Bay, California, United StatesThere is something magnetic about the Ridge Chardonnay. A picture of complexity, it has a rich hazelnut current running through its fine leesy textures, with bits of toasted caramelized apples and a long, persistent finish. Ridge produced its first chardonnay in 1962 from fully mature vines planted in the late 1940s in the Monte Bello estate vineyard. By 1985, the old vines were making less than a half-ton per acre and were taken out. The younger vines, planted in the ‘70s, provide the majority of grapes today, planted over fractured limestone overlaid with decomposing Franciscan green stone mixed with clay/loam. The newer plantings were on the lower vineyard, not yet farmed as part of the Monte Bello estate, so the wine was called Santa Cruz Mountains, but since 2009, the wine has been designated. In the finest years, when the differences warrant a separate bottling, a limited amount of Monte Bello Chardonnay is released. In 2021, a dry winter and spring stressed the vines, limiting yields and concentrating flavours. The grapes are whole cluster pressed and native barrel fermented. The barrels were 60% air dried American oak, 40% French oak, 24% new, 5% one year old, and 71% two to three year old. The wine spends 15 months in barrel.Tasted: 10 May 2024Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:| BC | $109.99 | 750ml | select private retailers |
Grape: ChardonnayCSPC: 720664UPC: 744442479009
