2021 Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Machado
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Tasting notes
The 2021 Chardonnay Machado is expressive and inviting. It opens with gregarious toast and allspice scents complemented by ripe quince and honey. The medium-bodied palate features generous, spicy flavors balanced by juicy acidity, and a touch of textural grip lengthens the finish. It doesn't need any bottle time to drink deliciously on its own or with richer dishes at the table.
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Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2021 Chardonnay Machado is fabulous. All the brightness and energy of the year comes through in a wine that sizzles with tension. White flowers, crushed rocks, mint, white pepper and citrus lift this gorgeous, sculpted Chardonnay. Intense saline notes punctuate the finish. This is such a classy wine. The parent material here is from Sweeney Canyon, a vineyard that played an important role in the early days here but that is no longer planted.
More exotic flowers, honeyed lemon zest, tropical fruits, and buttered green almond notes all emerge from the 2021 Chardonnay Machado, a beautifully textured, ripe, opulent, sexy Chardonnay with good acidity and terrific balance. Give it a year and enjoy bottles over the following decade. As usual with Greg’s wines, these wines are not destemmed and are brought up all in neutral barrels. Most of the Chardonnays check in around 14% alcohol, with the Pinot Noirs between 14%-14.5%, and they all have singular characters as well as a decade of longevity at a minimum. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better lineup of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from anyone in California.
Whole-cluster fermentation, ageing in neutral barrels. Beautifully floral cranberry and cherry aroma. Gorgeous cherry and green-herb flavours mix with raspberry and a hint of dark earth. Woody and slightly resinous hints of the whole-cluster fermentation linger in the finish. A really beautiful wine. (AY)