Marnet Mill Station Vineyard Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2022

Proprietor and winemaker Dan Ricciato has one of the coolest jobs in the biz. He was brought on at the acclaimed Outpost Estate on Howell Mountain to work under Thomas Rivers Brown, playing a role in several of Thomas’ many projects, including his personal label, Rivers-Marie. After several years of training, Thomas promoted Dan to manage grower relations for all of his vineyards throughout Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties. This was a major step in Dan's career, giving him unparalleled access to artisan vineyards that would ultimately inspire his own project, Marnet. Today, Dan oversees and manages over 100 vineyards for Thomas Brown...can you believe it?

The Chardonnay for this beautiful bottling was sourced from the Mill Station Vineyard, which is a steeply sloped vineyard that sits just outside of the town of Sebastopol. This vineyard still boasts the original plantings from 1973 and is 100% dry-farmed. The grapes were whole-cluster pressed, and when Dan sent the juice to the lab for analysis, he shared with us that what he got back was “a winemaker’s dream! And so, I did nothing to the wine from here on out”. A great winemaker knows when to get out of the way and let the fruit work its magic. 

The wine was barrel aged, 25% of which was new Chassin, which is a French oak that is becoming increasingly popular with Chardonnay producers for its nuanced, light toast.  Brilliant ice cold or room temperature, this wine opens with aromas of lemon cream pie, honeysuckle, and brioche. The palate is ripe and plush with notes of pineapple, lemon zest, and baked pie crust. This wine has exceptional texture and coats your mouth before leading to acidity that builds steadily to a medium-plus peak. Simply a beautiful wine.