This is indeed a rare treat. Highly allocated Cakebread Chardonnay is one of the most popular wines in the country. We were able to acquire a small quantity for our Wine Express customers. Always a huge hit, grapes come primarily from their vineyards in Carneros and begin with night harvesting, which ensures the grapes are picked cold and retain their fruit purity and bright natural acidity. After a short drive to the winery the fruit is whole-cluster-pressed further preserving freshness and purity. The juice is then transferred into French oak barrels to ferment. In order to achieve maximum fruit expression, the wine is aged on primary yeast lees for eight months with intermittent stirring of the lees to enhance texture and boost complexity. Extremely limited!
James Suckling scored this 91 points saying "Aromas of peach, sliced apple, cream and crushed stones. It’s medium-bodied with crisp acidity. Creamy and straightforward. Drink now."
The Wine Advocate scored this 90 points saying "The 2018 Chardonnay comes 95% from Carneros and 5% from Napa Valley. Barrel fermented in 33% new oak, it spent eight months on the lees, and 18% went through malolactic. It was bottled June 1, 2019. Slowly, it reveals very pretty poached pears, apple pie and apricot scents with touches of beeswax, toasted almond and lanolin. Medium-bodied, the palate has great poise and finesse, delivering a racy backbone and loads of tight-knit stone fruit flavors, finishing long and toasty and straightforward. Drink now."