Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard 2019 (750ML)

96 WS / 96 WA / 96 JS

#3 Wine Spectator Top 100 2022

This stunning version offers a pure beam of white nectarine, mango and ripe Bartlett pear flavors that mingle with notes of pound cake, toasted, salted hazelnut and nutmeg on a supple, rich frame, which draws focus from a bright thread of acidity. Drink now through 2030. 2,323 cases made.

HdV—for Hyde de Villaine—was founded in 2000, a high-profile partnership between two accomplished winemaking families: the Hydes of Napa and the de Villaines of Burgundy. The Hyde Vineyard, located on the eastern edge of Carneros, is among the most celebrated in California—its grapes go into stunning single-vineyard bottlings by Aubert, Kistler, Ramey and others. The age of the vines ranges from 28 to 40 years, with old Wente and Calera clones. Winemaker Guillaume Boudet ages the wine for 15 months in French oak barrels, 20 percent new, and then lets it settle for three months in stainless steel before bottling unfined and unfiltered. —MaryAnn Worobiec, Wine Spectator

The 2019 Chardonnay comes from vines in the Hyde Vineyard that are 25-40 years old and planted to Wente (60%) and Calera (40%) selections. Aged in about 15% new French oak, the nose is perfumed and pure, with scents of quince, apricot, beeswax, river stone and citrus blossoms. The palate offers a compelling dynamic of satiny, expansive fruits and fresh, focused acidity, and it has a long, nuanced finish. It will continue to unwind in bottle over the next 2-3 years and gain savory complexity over the next decade. - Erin Brooks, Wine Advocate

Honeysuckle, oyster-shell and apple-pie aromas. Pears and lime sherbet, too. Flinty. Full-bodied, layered and integrated with fine phenolics. Some matchbox character comes through. Stemmy and spicy at the end from whole-cluster pressing. Wente and Calera clones. Drink or hold. - James Suckling