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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2005 and 2011 (based on 53 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 4 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by cab on 11/28/2009: Quite nice. Has gained elegance. But definitely time to drink. Caramel apples, wafts of the tropics, and maybe a touch of cotton candy, kind of like a Vouvray. Lacking acidity, perhaps, but very smooth. Perhaps a touch too woody. (1634 views) | | | Tasted by cab on 9/20/2008: This wine is a guilty pleasure. I am certainly not much of a California Chardonnay drinker, and that is certainly what this is. You can taste a little too much wood for my taste, but there is a nice puckery freshness, and a real depth. I remember a few years ago there was a lot of tropical fruit, that is still there, but now it's poking through the slightly caramelly underbrush. Better acidic backbone than I would've said it had a few years ago, which is I think what really makes it turn the corner. Went very well with a moderately spicy pad Thai, and was good after dinner too. (1624 views) | | | Tasted by cab on 5/18/2008: Ann really liked this, so I picked up a few more bottles on close-out, and she still really liked. I thinks its good, but not great. Smoth and creamy, and a little bit of tropical fruit balanced with decent acidity. Very nice golden color. A tad too much wood on the finish mars it for me. But on the whole, for around $20 on close-out, good deal. (1719 views) | | | Tasted by PaulH on 8/16/2006 & rated 92 points: Pale straw gold color with medium body, smooth malo character and moderate finish. Restrained and elegant style (fruit-backward) with excellent balance. (tasted blind and mistaken for a White Burg). (2636 views) |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, January/Feburary 2005, IWC Issue #118
(Varner Chardonnay Spring Ridge Vineyard Amphitheater Block Santa Cruz Mountains) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Varner Producer websiteChardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Santa Cruz Mountains Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia
Once referred to by wine writers as the Chaine d'Or -- or "golden chain" -- the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA sits above Silicon Valley, running along the craggy range next to the Pacific on some of the prettiest parts of Northern California. The area supports more than 75 wineries, despite being limited by geography and high land prices.
In 1981 the Santa Cruz Mountains Viticultural Appellation became federally recognized, one of the first American viticultural areas to be defined by geophysical and climatic factors. The appellation encompasses the Santa Cruz Mountain range, from Half Moon Bay in the north, to Mount Madonna in the south. The east and west boundaries are defined by elevation, extending down to 800 feet in the east and 400 feet in the west. |
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