2023 Carte Blanche Chardonnay Ulysses Valdez Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, “Fifteenth Anniversary” $92.95

San Francisco Wine Panel Score 96 Points

Attractively ripe in its emerging stone fruit and citric aromas, the nose of this classy, age-worthy Chardonnay is a study of balance between bright fruit and creamy oak. The aromas are a focused medley of upfront grapefruit, Meyer lemon, white peach, fresh golden fig and sweet melon scents poised above a backdrop of hazelnut meringue. It is supple, palate-coating and clearly youthful in the mouth, as coiled notes of peach and fig are subordinate to more immediately forthcoming flavors of Meyer lemon, pineapple core and more subtle counterpoints of white pepper and crushed rock minerality. A fine dinner wine already, showing generosity, precision and clearly evident food-matchability, it will surely improve significantly over the next two or three years. 150 cases produced.