Effortless Perfection
It has aromas of lemon tart, apple and cinnamon on the nose that offers a sensation of sunshine. Its complex flavors of vanilla, pear, peach and apricot gives it a warm, smooth mouth feel. To add to the beautifully balanced wine are spices and acidity that balance it out leaving you with a clean, fresh, long finish.
This site was planted in 1972 to Old Wente clone selection. The vines are all head-trained and dry grown. The 2015 Chardonnay Buena Tierra Vineyard gives up evolving fruit notions of preserved apricots, fresh hay, apple pie and allspice with touches of lemongrass and lime leaves. Full-bodied, the palate is packed with savory and baking spices accents with a stone fruit and baked apple core, framed by great freshness and a tantalizing oiliness to the texture, finishing long and spicy. Skillfully crafted by Thomas Rivers Brown, this is more of an old-old-school, oxidative style of Chardonnay and therefore wonderfully restrained and savory—not for those looking for a fruit bomb! -94 points, Wine Advocate
Rich and well-structured, with sandalwood and dried meat notes flanking the ripe dark plum, currant and dried cherry flavors. Slate and spice details show on the finish, with some loamy hints. - 92 points, Wine Spectator
We discovered the Buena Tierra vineyard in the Russian River Valley, by meeting a vintner, Eugena Keegan, who bought chardonnay grapes from the Sonoma coast. She asked if we'd like to barrel taste the wine. The wine was stunning. She was moving to Oregon, so we approached the owner of Buena Tierra Vineyards on the Russian River in Sonoma County about buying the grapes. The owners were reluctant because the vines were at the time 35 years old and production was down. We offered to pay full production price for whatever grapes were harvested, an agreement that continues to this day.
