Tasting Notes

Release Date: Fall 2016

Harvest began early in 2013 during the last days of August. It somewhat took us by surprise as we were in the midst of bottling and had to shift to harvesting which is an arduous task. The nature of farming is humbling since the weather drives the process. Little did we know at the time that 2013 was the start of August harvests that have continued every year since.

This Estate Chardonnay is a forceful wine. The drought was influential in giving power and concentration from beginning to end. Trademark aromas of honeysuckle, lime zest, hazelnut and earth come through with abundance. On the palate the flavors are still coming together with mouth-coating acidity and generous impressions of lemon, gardenia flowers and glycerin—a sign for long life and evolution.

This wine is remarkably similar to one of our earlier vintages, 1984, which aged beautifully for twenty- five years. A great success.

Production

1,540

Tech Notes

Yield: 2.5 tons per acre

Harvest: August 23rd-September 3rd

Numbers @ Harvest: 23.0° Brix, 3.20 pH, 8.1 grams acidity

Barrel Regimen:  French Oak 70% new, 30% 1-2 years; 100% Barrel Fermented; 100% Malolactic; aged 10 months on the sur-lie

Bottling: August 2014

Alcohol: 14%

Reviews

95 points Wine Enthusiast Magazine - November 2016

One of the greatest Chardonnays made in California each vintage, this bottling blends riper elements of yellow peach and honey with the tension of tangerine rind and pink-grapefruit pith on the nose. The palate is very energetic and tangy, with orange peels, crushed sea shells and a touch of salt hanging from an extremely well-chiseled structure. —M.K.

94 points View From the Cellar by John Gilman - July / August 2016

 Issue #64

The 2013 vintage has produced an outstanding young example of Estate Chardonnay here at Mount Eden, and this looks likely to be one of the great long-distance runners in recent times for this ageworthy bottling. The wine is still young and quite tightly-knit on both the nose and palate, but with the depth and racy spine of acidity to age beautifully. The still quite primary bouquet offers up scents of pear, white peach, fresh almond, stony soil tones, vineyard flowers and still a fair bit of buttery new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, vibrant and focused, with an outstanding core of fruit, lovely soil signature, a fine structural spine and excellent bounce and grip on the long, nascently complex and impeccably balanced finish. This is still a puppy and is still in the midst of absorbing its new wood, but all of the constituent components are in place for the 2013 vintage to be one of the great classic Estate Chardonnay bottlings in the history of Mount Eden. The wine is already quite delicious, but it is still very early days for this wine and I would not even consider opening a bottle out of my cellar for at least another four or five years! 2020-2045+.

94 points Robert Parker Jr's The Wine Advocate - October 2016

Issue #227

Pure silk on the palate, the 2013 Chardonnay Estate offers textbook notes of buttered apples, brioche, toasted bread and hints of minerality to go with medium to full-bodied richness, beautiful purity of fruit, no hard edges and impeccable balance. It’s beautiful today, but should evolve gracefully for at least 5-6 years.

93 points Antonio Galloni presents Vinous - July 2016

The 2013 Chardonnay is especially ripe and voluptuous in this vintage because of the drought, almost unusually so. Yellow peach, candied orange peel and pineapple are front and center. The good news with the 2013 is that it will drink well early, but the bad news – if it can be called that – is that the wine is a bit on the overt side. Voluptuous, racy and oily, the 2013 will drink well with minimal cellaring. The 2013 finishes with a real sense of weight and textural richness that only adds to its considerable appeal. Drink 2017-2022.

93 points Wine Spectator - March 2017

Very distinctive, with a unique profile of flinty limestone, minerally citrus, green pear, honeydew and honeysuckle flavors, enlivened by zesty acidity, floral scents and a long, mouthwatering aftertaste that keeps repeating the core themes. Has an excellent track record for aging. Drink now through 2023.–JL

93 points Decanter - November 2016

A very classy Chardonnay made in a Burgundian style, with notes of ripe apple and white peach and very fine use of oak. It has depth, tension, a great mouthfeel and a well-integrated fine oak character. It’s a lovely mix between new world fruit intensity and old world acidity and minerality. A must-try wine.