95-97 Point Wines

wines

A bright yellow hue with green highlights, the 2022 Chardonnay Durant Vineyard is expressive in its lacy perfume of jasmine, tarragon, salty earth, and bright green apple. Medium-bodied, it offers beautiful, pristine, ripe fruit, a pithy texture, and a delicate arch to its rounded mouthfeel, with no harshness. It’s refined and graceful, with a floral flourish of lemon blossoms lasting long on the finish. Drink 2024-2034.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDThe 2022 Lark Block bottling of chardonnay from Durant Vineyard is truly one of the finest white wines I have yet had the pleasure to taste from Kelley Fox. The bouquet is very precise and has a gently exotic floral sheen to it, offering up scents of pear, casaba melon, fresh almond, a beautiful base of soil tones, lemon peel, orange blossoms and a touch of honeysuckle. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with superb depth at the core lovely soil inflection, a fine spine of acidity and a long, vibrant and impeccably balanced finish. This is very easy to drink out of the blocks, but there is so much more lurking here right below the surface that I would definitely try to give the wine three or four years in the cellar to allow its secondary layers of complexity to start to emerge. It is a great wine. (Drink between 2024 - 2040)John Gilman | 94 JGThe 2022 Chardonnay Durant Vineyard blossoms in the glass as wildflowers and crushed apples give way to mint and crushed stone suggestions. This opens with a lovely inner sweetness and supple texture contrasted with zesty acids and crisp orchard fruits. It tapers off with amazing tension, grippy and cheek puckering with a citrusy concentration as savory herbs and a sensation of liquid stone fade.Vinous Media | 93 VM

Lastly, the 2022 Chardonnay Rosemary’s Vineyard is another Arroyo Grande release that saw 14 months in 30% new French oak. It’s a slightly more savory, masculine styled effort that has both citrus and stone fruits, lots of crushed stone minerality, honeyed white flowers, blanched almonds, and subtle spicy oak aromas and flavors. It has rock-solid concentration, bright yet integrated acidity, and a gorgeous finish. It’s up with the finest Chardonnay in the vintage.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDThe 2022 Chardonnay Rosemary’s Vineyard is another gorgeous Chardonnay from Brian Talley and his team. Complex and multi-dimensional, the Rosemary’s is wonderfully dynamic from start to finish. Layers of rich orchard fruit intermingle with bright acids and light tropical accents that add raciness. I especially admire its complex, multi-dimensional personality.Vinous Media | 95 VMA stunningly beautiful Chardonnay, the Rosemary’s is from the coolest site, the cool Talley Estate. Planted in 1987 to complement the Pinot Noir planted across the estate driveway. Within three to five years, this wine will become ethereal. Beguiling aromatics of lemon verbena, English hawthorn and concentrated grilled fleshy pineapple with a kiss of herbaceous wild tarragon. The texture is extraordinary, and 14 months of sur lie elevage in 30% new French oak has imparted intense lemon curd flavours, lemon oil and grilled lemon peel. There’s a soaring minerality marked by briny sea air, bright white pepper and savoury notes of cardamom mark the finish. (Tasted from bottle #5631.)Decanter | 95 DECA generous, plush, delicious wine with ample baked-fruit flavors and spicy vanilla bean accents. Medium-bodied with energizing acidity and a lingering finish. Estate grown on the Talley family’s original vineyard site. Sustainable. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JSAged for 14 months in 30% new French oak, the 2022 Chardonnay Rosemary’s Vineyard splits the difference between a fresh, vibrant frame and toasty, punchy richness. The nose is reminiscent of a classic California Chardonnay, albeit with notably more verve and zest. The palate is powerful, yellow-fruited and creamy, leading to a finish that combines butterscotch-laden power with saline, stony refreshment.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP

A Central Russian River Blend, the 2022 Chardonnay Chloe is a bright yellow hue and captures a wide spectrum of citrus with notes of orange, Meyer lemon, fresh pineapple, toasted spice, and a hint of almond through the mid-palate as well as a nice lift of citrus on the finish. It’s a beautiful wine offering a richer tone through the range. Drink 2024-2034.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDLemongrass, sage and apples with some pastry dough and flint. Medium-bodied with a pretty core of fruit and hints of minerals, flint and spices such as peppercorns and cloves. Drink it now.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2022 Chardonnay Chloe hops from the glass with exuberant notes of white peaches, fresh pears, and yellow apples opening out to nuances of honeysuckle and ginger tea. The medium-bodied palate has great tension and intensity, with layers of orchard fruit flavors and a long, ginger-laced finish. The first vintage of Chloe was 2000. This year the blend is 30% Flora Marie Vineyard, 40% Bressay, and 30% El Diablo.The Wine Independent | 95 TWIThe 2022 Chardonnay Chloe comes from three vineyards: Flora Marie (30%), El Diablo (30%) and Dumol’s Bressay Estate Vineyard (40%). Grapes were harvested August 12, 18 and 26. It has heady, enveloping scents of peach, quince, lemongrass and jasmine, plus touches of toast and spice. The palate is silky and mouthwatering and features layer after layer of perfumed fruit that lingers in the mouth long after the wine has gone. 1,200 cases were made.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThe 2022 Chardonnay Chloe is laced with hints of orchard fruit, lemon confit, marzipan, tangerine peel and a kiss of French oak. Effusive in its bouquet yet also delicate in feel, Chloe is a supremely charming wine. Soft contours wrap it all together in style.Vinous Media | 93 VM

Legendary for its old Chardonnay vines and unusual mix of disparate soils, Ritchie Vineyard is home to Ramey’s 20 rows, planted in 1972. Part of this selection includes Old Wente Clone. “We have worked with the same 20 rows since 2002,” says Claire Ramey. This wine exudes a beautiful floral lift, while the palate is nothing short of a steel beam of intensity, softened by a juicy core. Layers of citrus peel, apricot, and poached pear unfold, leading to a fabulous sprinkling of crunchy sea salt on the finish. One of the most food-friendly wines in the lineup, it demands pairing with rich fish or chicken dishes. Mineral intensity lingers long on the finish, reinforcing its precision and structure.Decanter | 96 DEC

The Rochioli family has been growing grapes on their property since the late 1950s, with the vineyard now farmed by the third generation. The 2021 Ramey Rochioli blend is sourced from 82% Mid-40 Block and 18% River Block. This wine delivers a gorgeous intensity of fruit and pressed wildflowers. On the palate, ripe lemon peel fruit expands into the mid-palate, where density builds alongside remarkable tension, all balanced by an extraordinary silky richness. Pure and riveting, laced with subtle vanilla accents, fantastic ginger character, and poached pear. A Chardonnay of intense richness and impressive length. (The first vineyard-designate release from Ramey was the 2015 vintage, though Ramey has been sourcing these grapes since 2008.)Decanter Magazine | 95 DEC

Woolsey Road benefits from two pillars of the Chardonnay world: it originates from the Hyde family’s cuttings of Old Wente and is farmed by the third and fourth generations of the Martinelli family. This Chardonnay showcases a remarkable flavour intensity, with rich citrus fruit—lemon, lime, and grapefruit zest—woven with oyster shell minerality. Restrained yet brimming with tension, this wine has so much going on. A real depth of fruit and mineral integrity is evident, though it remains somewhat shy, biding its time. Make no mistake—this will blossom into a rich and excellent wine, fully deserving of its high praise. It is focused and laser-like in its precision, with remarkable restraint and tension. This vineyard is owned by the Martinelli family and was planted to Ramey’s specifications in 2007. According to Ramey, it lies directly south of the Martinelli Winery on Woolsey Road. The vines are spaced one metre by two metres on a northeast-facing slope. Planted on 420A rootstock, known for its low vigour, the vines are cane-pruned. The site’s Huichica clay loam over clay soil composition contributes to the wine’s mineral-driven precision. This cool-climate site was planted with Old Wente cuttings from Chardonnay vines Ramey originally planted at Platt Vineyard.Decanter Magazine | 96 DEC