Luxe, pedigreed bottle that will thrill Cakebread fans
- 94 pts Wine Enthusiast94 pts WE
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2019 Ram's Gate Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 750 ml
Retail: $48 | ||
| $22 | 54% off | per bottle |
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
Sonoma Hidden Gem Has Insiders Taking Notice
Joe Nielsen knows a thing or two about making top-tier wines. A true wunderkind, he was named winemaker for Donelan wines before his 30th birthday—and proceeded to earn a 99- and 98-point score from the Wine Advocate in his very first vintage in charge.
At Donelan, Joe made $100+ wines aimed squarely at the most discerning California collectors, until Ram’s Gate lured him away in 2018. Now he’s both winemaker and general manager—truly setting the course for this hidden gem of a winery.
What he's doing at Ram’s Gate has made industry insiders sit up and take notice. He’s pushed the estate vineyards to holistic farming, improving the microbiome of the soil to allow vines to better uptake nutrients. He’s implemented the use of “pressure bombs”—aka Scholander chambers—to precisely measure the hydric stress level of the vines. The results are certainly coming through in the wines, as Jeb Dunnuck called recent releases “exceptional” and “brilliant.”
For the 2019 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, Joe tapped five different vineyard blocks to build this blend, featuring multiple different clones to build complexity into the bottle. After one of the greatest growing seasons in Sonoma Chardonnay history—one that Wine Spectator rated 96-points—the grapes were pressed gently and fermented carefully before aging in French oak. But only a quarter of that oak was new, keeping the influence on the palate to a carefully judged polish. A minority of the wine goes through malolactic fermentation. The result is a wine that balances the naturally rich fruit of the region with elegance and polish.