Model Farm Chardonnay Wildcat Mountain Vineyard 2020 Santa Cruz Mountains

- 93+ Punkte, View from the Cellar, Gilman: „This is the first vintage from Sean and Joanna Castorani from the Wildcat Mountain Vineyard, which they have long wished to buy fruit from. The vineyard was planted in 1998 and sits at the top of a windy crest of a hill of volcanic rock separating Petaluma from the Sonoma Valley. It is cold, windswept, stony and foggy and a perfect place to grow chardonnay in this era of global warming. The couple was extremely lucky to be able to make wine from here in 2020, as they harvested their fruit on August 17th, the same day the fires started, and it is probable that if they were not picking early, there would have been no wine from here in this vintage. The Castoranis’ 2020 chardonnay from Wildcat comes in at 13.3 percent octane and delivers a beautifully refined bouquet of apple, pear, orange zest, a touch of almond, stony soil tones, fruit blossoms and just a whisper of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and complex, with a superb core, great mineral undertow and cut, zesty acids and a long, elegant and beautifully precise finish. This is outstanding chardonnay that will be even better with a few years in the cellar to allow its secondary layers of complexity to rise to the surface! 2022-2040.”

- 93 Punkte, VINOUS, Antonio Galloni: „The 2020 Chardonnay Wildcat Mountain is terrific. Bright and persistent in the glass, with terrific energy, it offers up an exciting mix of citrus, mineral, savory and floral notes. More than anything, thwough, I anmire the wines delineation and persistence. Exotic floral and tropical notes punctuate the super-expressive finish. The 2020 is beautifully done.“  Drinking Window: 2022-2027.