2021 Ma Douce Chardonnay
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Tasting notes
From a vineyard in the Fort Ross Seaview AVA planted on Goldridge soils above the fog line, the 2021 Chardonnay Ma Douce is wonderfully expressive, with compelling notes of toasted grain and roasted pineapple joined by melon and peach. It's full-bodied and silky, with a soft, plush mouthfeel, making it broad and expansive in the mouth, but it has a bright, lingering finish that provides balance and beckons you to take another sip.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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Named for Luc’s wife Jodie (as well as for the breeze), the 2021 Chardonnay Ma Douce is inspired by Meursault in its stylistic approach. It pours a ripe yellow color with the light haze that all these wines carry and was raised in one-third new French oak. The nose lifts with lemon curd, light flint, fresh pear, sweet brioche, and white flowers. Full-bodied, with good freshness, it’s long on the palate, with a long custardy finish. It has the structure to be long-lived and cellar worthy, and it’s going to drink well over the next 15 years.
The 2021 Chardonnay Ma Douce marries power and tension. Lemon peel, white pepper, mint and crushed rocks all race across the palate. This taut Fort Ross-Seaview Chardonnay captures all the magic of the West Sonoma Coast in the richer style that is a house signature. I would give this a year or two to come together a bit more fully.