2011 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay Napa Valley

Montelena's 2011 Chardonnay John Muir Hanna Vineyard, emerges from a site that has been a core component of the Montelena Chardonnays since 1972. In some years a few barrels are culled out, given a little more time in barrel and bottled separately. Slate, lemon, flowers and crushed rocks meld together in a Chardonnay of rare distinction and class. Texturally beautiful and inviting, the 2011 Hanna Chardonnay is a beauty. Stylistically, it is a little more polished and vibrant than the Montelena Chardonnay.

(13.8% alcohol; the 40th chardonnay vintage at this historic Calistoga winery): Bright, pale lemon-yellow. Crisp aromas of apple, citrus peel and white peppery, along with a light metallic quality. The palate offers bracing lemon zest and grapefruit pith flavors and strong acidity yet comes across as silky and tactile at the same time. Cool and spicy, but with a surprisingly glyceral quality for the year. The youthfully edgy finish suggests that this wine will need serious patience.

The 2011 Chardonnay appears to have more richness and body than the 2010, which is counterintuitive considering the cool year, but in 2011 Bo Barrett and his team had to wait until the end of October for this fruit to fully ripen, which, needless to say, is highly unusual. The characteristic Montelena Chardonnay aromas and flavors come through, but in a slightly richer style than normal. Hints of lemon oil, crushed rocks and flowers meld together beautifully on the resonant finish. Barrett adds that the 2011 was the first wine made in the new cellar, which is set up to handle small-lot fermentations. Whatever the reasons, the 2011 is striking in every way.