2024 Platt Vineyard Estate Reserve Chardonnay

The 2024 Platt Vineyard Estate Reserve Chardonnay confirms that Platt Vineyard has now become one of the most exciting addresses for top Chardonnay on the West Sonoma Coast. While the 2023 already made a strong impression, the 2024 also demonstrates just how special this cool coastal vineyard is. This Estate Reserve is composed of the estate's best micro-parcels and combines ripe yellow fruit and creamy texture with striking briny minerality and energy. The result is a Chardonnay with depth, tension, and a distinct gastronomic character. Platt Vineyard and the power of the West Sonoma Coast Platt Vineyard is located on the West Sonoma Coast, one of the coolest and most promising wine regions in California. The proximity to the Pacific Ocean ensures misty mornings, cool nights, and a long growing season, allowing Chardonnay to ripen slowly here and retain its freshness. Under AXA Millésimes, Platt Vineyard has grown into one of California's most ambitious new estates. With Derek Flegal as winemaker and Thomas Rivers Brown as consultant, they are working on wines that clearly bear the signature of their terroir. Chardonnay, in particular, seems to thrive exceptionally well at this location. For more information about Platt Vineyard, please refer to the Winery tab. Estate Reserve: selection of the best plots The Estate Reserve Chardonnay is not made from a single plot, but from a selection of the best parts of four different blocks within the vineyard. For this cuvée, specifically the central parts of those blocks are used, micro-sites where the grapes can linger longer than in the plots used for the regular Estate Chardonnay. This longer aging translates into extra concentration, more texture, and a richer mid-palate, without the wine losing its tension. The 2024 aged for fourteen months in French oak barrels, 33% of which were new. This gives the wine extra depth and structure, while clearly preserving the mineral precision of the terroir. Scent, taste and character The 2024 Estate Reserve Chardonnay opens with a strikingly pure and refined aromatic profile. On the nose, mandarin, lemon confit, white flowers, and apricot immediately come to the fore, followed by notes of mint, marzipan, chalk, and subtle saline accents. On the palate, the combination of texture and tension is immediately striking. The wine has a creamy, almost silky opening, but is instantly balanced by lively acidity and a pronounced chalky minerality. Flavors of citrus, ripe peach, white stone fruit notes, and a subtle touch of sea salt blend seamlessly together. What makes this wine special is the combination of concentration and precision. The Estate Reserve clearly has more depth and volume than the regular Platt Chardonnay, yet remains crisp and energetic at the same time. The briny and chalky notes give the wine an almost maritime character that aligns beautifully with its origins on the cool Sonoma coast. The finish is long, refined, and seamless, with notes of citrus, oyster shell, chalk, and sea salt that linger for a long time. A Chardonnay with tension and texture The 2024 vintage on the Sonoma Coast was warmer and drier than 2023, but without extreme heat peaks. This ensured healthy grapes and even ripening. In Platt, this resulted in wines with more suppleness and slightly more direct fruit than in 2023, but still with the characteristic freshness and precision of the vineyard. With the Estate Reserve, there is an additional layer of complexity due to the selection of the best micro-sites. It is a wine that already possesses great charm, but is clearly also made to develop further in the coming years. Professional reviews The 2024 Platt Vineyard Estate Reserve Chardonnay was once again excellently received by the international wine press. James Suckling: 98 points Suckling praises the wine for its unique combination of mandarin, sea salt, chalk, and oyster shell. According to him, this is a crystal-clear Chardonnay with high energy, a focused st