Catena Zapata Adrianna White Bones Chardonnay 2021 (750ML)

99 JS / 98+ WA

#75 James Suckling's Top 100 Wines of 2023

What an exotic, perfumed yet elegant nose here full of thyme, local herbs, green papaya, ginger and green curry. Lemon grass and lime zest. So fresh and elegant on the palate with a chalky texture to the center-palate. Really transparent, subtle, quiet and long. A unique chardonnay from a cool and elegant vintage, but intense and idiosyncratic. Unique to the landscape. Drink now or hold.-- Zekun Shuai, James Suckling

The 2021 White Bones Chardonnay was harvested at two different points of ripeness and then blended into the final wine, which is subtler than the explosive 2020 I tasted next to it but with the same palette of aromas—thyme, rosemary, lavender, rockrose, white flowers, citrus, pine needles, incense, curry and spices—and the palate is seamless, mineral and with a chalky texture. It's brilliant and expresses the variety, vintage and soil perfectly, but today I give the edge to the 2020, which I think transcends the vintage. 6,240 bottles produced.-- Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate