Pahlmeyer Jayson Chardonnay 2020
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Winemaker Notes
The 2020 Jayson Chardonnay is layered and dynamic: The mountain fruit of our Pahlmeyer vineyards contributes intensity and crisp acidity, while our lower-elevation blocks offer freshness, tropical notes, and lovely aromatic lift. We hand-harvested each vineyard at optimal ripeness, picking in the predawn hours. Each whole cluster was meticulously hand sorted at the winery before pressing. The wine was gently whole-cluster pressed, naturally settled, and barrel fermented. It was racked from barrel for blending, then aged as a blend for 8 months before racking for bottling.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Nuanced, on a supple, creamy frame, with honeyed details of peach pastry, orange blossoms, salted butterscotch, toasted brioche and toasted herbs and spices. Strikes an appealing balance between richness and a crisp, fresh acidity that keeps the flavors in focus.
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James Suckling
Aromas of matchstick, hay, grapefruit and fresh herbs. Medium-bodied with nice concentration and depth. Steady, with toasted complexity.
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Wine Enthusiast
Rich butter, almond and pastry flavors drench this full-bodied wine in an almost-sweet array of fruits, nuts and baking spices on a fat, luxurious body and soft acidity. It is super smooth and unctuous to sip.
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Connoisseurs'
Guide
Pahlmeyer was founded in 1986, by a desire to be great by its eponymous creator Jayson Pahlmeyer. With a dream to create a California Mouton, Jayson and his partners spared no resource to make this dream a reality. Whether it was finding the perfect piece of land high atop Napa Valley’s Atlas Peak or covertly smuggling in Bordeaux cuttings, all pieces of Pahlmeyer’s history have led to its place as one of the top brand names from Napa Valley. From the very beginning, Pahlmeyer has been dedicated to crafting fine wines from the best fruit sources possible. In California, this means high elevation mountain sites, where the grapes are afforded more sunlight, cooler temperatures, and less fertile soils, which together create ideal conditions. Pahlmeyer sources the majority of their fruit from four key locations: Pahlmeyer Estate (Atlas Peak), Stagecoach (Atlas Peak / Pritchard Hill), Rancho Chimiles, and Antica.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Reaching up California's coastline and into its valleys north of San Francisco, the North Coast AVA includes six counties: Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake. While Napa and Sonoma enjoy most of the glory, the rest produce no shortage of quality wines in an intriguing and diverse range of styles.
Climbing up the state's rugged coastline, the chilly Marin County, just above the City and most of Sonoma County, as well as Mendocino County on the far north end of the North Coast successfully grow cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and in some spots, Riesling. Inland Lake County, on the other hand, is considerably warmer, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc produce some impressive wines with affordable price tags.