2017 Laguna Ridge Chardonnay
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Tasting notes
The 2017 Chardonnay Laguna Ridge Vineyard features scents of baclava, baked apples, quince paste, lime peel and warm yellow peaches with notions of gunflint, hazelnut, citrus blossoms and crushed stone. Medium-bodied with a lovely creamy texture, it has intense flavor layers, uplifting tangy acidity and a very long, flavorful finish. This is only produced in magnums.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Released only in magnum, the 2017 Chardonnay Laguna Ridge Vineyard comes from a site located between Vine Hill and Trenton vineyards, in the heart of the Russian River. Exotic notes of orange blossom, ripe orchard fruits, toasted spice, and hints of floral notes all flow to a medium to full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, yet racy Chardonnay that has tons of verve and tension. With plenty of mid-palate depth, ample minerality on the finish, and straight-up awesome length, it will benefit from a year or two of bottle age and cruise for a decade or more.
Easily the biggest wine in this range, the 2017 Chardonnay Laguna Ridge is rich and unctuous in feel. Orange confit, dried flowers, herbs and light honeyed notes all develop in the glass, but it is the wine's oily, waxy feel that is its most distinctive attribute. This is a flamboyant wine from Kistler. Even so, there is plenty of backing structure and enough pedigree to allow it to develop nicely in the cellar. The Laguna Ridge is bottled only in magnum.
About the producer
Kistler’s Chardonnays are some of the world’s most sought-after. This cult Californian producer crafts small volumes of exceptional, rich and generous, yet mineral and precise wines. With almost the entire production sold directly to their mailing list, the wines are also incredibly hard to find.