2018 Ridge Vineyards "Estate" Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay
SKU #1468620
95 points
Jeb Dunnuck
Coming all from the estate Monte Bello Vineyard, the 2018 Chardonnay Estate offers a medium gold hue as well rocking notes of caramelized apples, white flowers, honeysuckle, and crushed rocks. These all carry to a medium-bodied Chardonnay with bright acidity, a focused, chiseled texture, terrific minerality, and just a kiss of background oak. It's going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and have two decades of longevity, if not longer.
(5/2020)
94 points
Vinous
The 2018 Chardonnay is classy, translucent and so vivid. Apricot, tangerine oil and light tropical overtones open up first, but the 2018 only starts to show all it has to offer with some aeration. The layers start to fill out, and yet the 2018 never loses its sense of transparency and overall detail. A real sense of phenolic weight gives the wine its distinctive mountain feel. (AG)
(9/2020)
K&L Notes
The producer's of one of California's most iconic wines (Ridge Monte Bello) also produce an amazingly consistent and outstanding Chardonnay from their hallowed vines on the Monte Bello estate. Winemaker Eric Baugher's notes: "Pale sun-bleached straw color. Ripe apple and yellow plum fruit aromas, citrus blossom, and sweet baked dessert. Sensuous entry, showing appealing mountain fruit, elegance, balanced acidity, and a beautiful mineral aftertaste."