2017 Genevieve's Block Chardonnay
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Coming from the Devoto Vineyard in Sonoma, the 2017 Chardonnay Genevieve's Block tastes like a hypothetic mix of a Chevalier-Montrachet and a cooler climate Chardonnay made by Mark Aubert. This brilliant wine offers a beautiful sense of minerality as well as tart citrus, white flowers, oysters shells, and brioche. With bright, racy acidity, medium to full body, a fabulous sense of tension and purity, and a great finish, it's a magical Chardonnay. There's no harm drinking this today, but I imagine it will keep nicely for at least a decade.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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The 2017 Chardonnay Genevieve's Block Devoto Vineyard is an attractive if somewhat idiosyncratic wine. A strong element of reduction adds freshness, energy and complexity. White flowers, lemon confit and crushed rocks abound, and I very much like the wine's vibrancy. I would open the 2017 well in advance to allow the reductive notes to blow off. Readers who don't enjoy reduction in Chardonnay will find more pleasure in other wines in this article.
The 2017 Chardonnay Genevieve's Block is from a vineyard of only about 900 vines. It was fermented and aged in 30% new oak for 11 months. Malolactic fermentation was blocked this vintage, and lees stirring was lessened, due to the nature of the vintage. On the nose, it opens with notes of toast, graphite and toasted hazelnut over a core of warm yellow apple, white blossom, red apple skin and white stone fruits. Medium to full-bodied with a great silky/creamy texture, it fills the mouth with wonderfully ripe tree fruits, nutty character and a wicked vein of crushed stone minerality, charged by tangy acidity and finishing very long and textured. Lovely! 169 cases were made.