2016 DuMOL Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard Chloe

Coming from the Ritchie vineyard in Russian River Valley, the 2016 Chardonnay Chloe opens with tropical scents of pineapple and guava plus hints of honeydew melon, allspice and acacia honey. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with bold exotic fruit flavors packaged in a seductively oily texture, delivering just enough freshness and a long spicy finish.

The 2016 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard comes from one of the top terroirs in the Russian River, and Andy has been working with two parcels from this vineyard since 2001. David Ramey and Mark Aubert also source fruit from these same parcels. This crazy good effort is a match for a Grand Cru White Burgundy and has a reductive, complex, layered style as well as sensational minerality, spice, white flowers, and orchard fruits. It needs 2-3 years of bottle age (I’m not sure bottles would last that long at my house) and will keep for 10-15 years. I still remember tasting with Andy Smith while I was writing The Rhône Report and I was thrilled to be able to sit down and go through all of his wines on this occasion. Stylistically, Smith makes a fresh, vibrant style of wine, yet I never find them lacking for depth and or texture. Looking at the Chardonnays, these are made in a reductive, age-worthy style and the clear majority have distinctly Burgundian profiles. These are beautiful wines that, at least to my palate, surpass the quality of the Pinot Noirs, which are slightly more variable. Nevertheless, the top Pinot Noirs are certainly up with the crème de la crème of the region. While Andy favors a tight, age-worthy style of Chardonnay, the Pinot Noirs are made in a slightly more forward style. In addition to the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, DuMOL also produces a handful of world-class Syrahs, as well as one of the top examples of Viognier coming out of California. Both the 2015s and 2016s reviewed here are terrific wines, with the 2016s showing slightly more balance and elegance, but you can’t go wrong with either vintage here.

The 2016 Chardonnay Chloe Ritchie Vineyard has a distinct stony quality that gives freshness and verve to the white and green orchard fruit character. There is an inward, intensely mineral quality to the Ritchie that distinguishes it from the other Chardonnays in this range. Readers should plan on giving the 2016 time in bottle, as it looks like a wine that will be slow to unfurl.