The 2016 Chardonnay Estate is a terrific introduction to the Stonestreet Chardonnays. Citrus, apricot, mint and a dash of new oak add nuance to this finely cut mountain Chardonnay. The Estate Chardonnay is another wine that delivers serious quality for the money. Silky and textured, the 2016 hits all the right notes. What a gorgeous wine it is.

The 2015 Chardonnay Broken Road Vineyard gives a gorgeous perfume of honeysuckle and peach blossoms with a core of apricots, cashews, baking bread and yeast extract. Medium-bodied, the palate reveals a satiny texture with savory nut and toasty layers complimenting the understated stone fruit, finishing on a yeasty note.

The 2015 Chardonnay Cougar Ridge offers lemon butter, candied ginger and beeswax notes over a core of green guava, pineapple and green mango. Medium-bodied, the palate has a wonderfully elegant, chalky nature, with a lovely silkiness to the texture and minerality on the finish.

The 2015 Chardonnay Gravel Bench is the most sumptuous and creamy of these wines. Rich and flamboyant, the 2015 exudes depth and personality. This is an especially unctuous style that works beautifully. The 100% new French oak is very nicely judged.

The 2014 Chardonnay Bear Point comes from a 1,000-foot elevation vineyard and its clonal origin is the Hyde-Wente selection. Loads of crisp pineapple notes intermixed with mango and tangerine oil jump from the glass of this full-bodied Chardonnay, which has terrific acidity and freshness. It should drink well for up to a decade.

Stonestreet's 2014 Chardonnay Cougar Ridge shows the super-distinctive, phenolic quality that makes these wines so unique. Dense and oily on the palate, with plenty of textural intensity, the 2014 is built on power, energy and volume. This is an especially imposing Chardonnay, but it works.

Lemon peel, white pepper, flowers and mint are all found in the 2013 Chardonnay Upper Barn. Next to the other wines in the range, the Upper Barn comes across as a bit compact, but it is quite pretty and expressive just the same. The Upper Barn emerges from one of the higher blocks on the property.

The 2013 Upper Barn, a vineyard that Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer made famous, spends 11 months in 49% new French oak and is fermented with indigenous yeasts. This is all Old Wente clone material, planted in 1982, so it’s among the older Chardonnay vineyards in Northern California. This wine always seems to have great acidity and loads of orange blossom, marmalade, honeysuckle and lemon blossom characteristics. The 2013 Upper Barn Vineyard (963 cases) is a beauty and certainly one of my favorites of this group.

Lastly, the 2013 Chardonnay Gravel Bench, the smallest cuvée at 188 cases, shows a greenish hue to its light straw color and loads of steely, wet pebbles in the mineral-laced aromatics. Some lemon oil, orange blossom and apple butter as well as poached pear notes also make an appearance in this beauty.

The 2012 Chardonnay Broken Road, made from Dijon clones, is the most tropical of these Chardonnays, revealing lots of pineapple, mango and a hint of bananas. A wet rock-like component provides minerality. It should drink well for 4-6 years.

Apricots, chamomile, light floral honey and sweet spices meld together in the 2012 Chardonnay Bear Point. Silky and layered in the glass, the Bear Point is all about finesse and understatement. The 2012 should drink well for at least a handful of years.

Bright yellow. Slightly high-toned aromas of pineapple, orange and spices anchored by vanillin oak; there's something vaguely Alsace riesling-like about this. Then plush, sweet, rich and expansive on the palate, more open-knit than the Broken Road. Boasts a lovely glycerol quality to its creamy flavors of soft citrus fruit. This full-bodied, inviting chardonnay holds its shape on the long aftertaste.

Bright pale yellow. Aromas and flavors of pineapple, ripe peach and sexy oak, along with more exotic tropical fruit nuances. Dense, thick and highly concentrated; still a bit reluctant to give up its flavors, with its crushed stone character in the foreground today, but this silky chardonnay boasts terrific intensity of fruit. Very long on the aftertaste.

Stonestreet's 2012 Chardonnay Upper Barn is deep, dense and powerful to the core. The personality and character of the Hyde Wente selection planted here comes through in the wine's texture and tropical-infused flavors. Spice, butter and apricot jam add layers of complexity on the finish.

Bright yellow. Highly nuanced nose combines lemon custard, smoked meat, minerals and hazelnut complicated by a sulfidey quality. Plush but very dry, with a lightly saline quality adding interest to the perfumed pineapple and mineral flavors. Finishes stony, dry and long. This is remarkably Burgundian for a California chardonnay in its price range. A worthy successor to the outstanding 2010 bottling.

Always a compelling wine, the 2011 Upper Barn shows the estate's classic acidity and minerality that give it such linear elegance. There is, however, nothing shy about the flavors, which are an explosion of oranges, peaches, limes, honey and new oak. This wine is not for aging, so drink now through 2015.

Intense and concentrated, this Chardonnay powerfully displays the pedigree of its mountain terroir. The Meyer lemondrop candy, orange and apricot fruit flavors are enriched with minerals and uplifted by bright acidity, while the oak influence lends a tension of opulence. A very fine, elegant and sophisticated wine for drinking now.

Pale yellow with a green tinge...showing excellent lift to the lemon curd and toast aromas. Round but firm, with solid supporting structure and grip and an exotic hint of coconutty oak. Finishes suave and very long, with superb lift. The strong acids of 2010 required later picking, noted winemaker Graham Weertz.

This Chardonnay has all the bells and whistles the winemaker can bestow on it. It's soft and creamy, with flavors of sweetly-sour pineapple and lemon-drop candy, buttered toast and savory cinnamon spices. Fine acidity gives a sheen to the richness.

(from grapes at an altitude of 1,800 feet): Bright yellow. Precise, high-pitched aromas of spring flowers, powdered stone and menthol suggest Puligny-Montrachet. Juicy, dry and stony in the mouth, with insidious cut and intensity to the tightly coiled flavors of white peach and citrus fruits. Not an opulent style of chardonnay but saturates the palate with dusty stone on the vibrant aftertaste. Very classy California chardonnay.

...From an 1,800 foot elevation, it reveals lots of honeyed pear, tropical fruit, brioche, nectarine and marmalade notes along with terrific acidity as well as richness. Moreover, little oak can be detected despite the fact that it (as well as its siblings) sees 50% new oak.

From an 1,800 foot elevation, it reveals lots of honeyed pear, tropical fruit, brioche, nectarine and marmalade notes along with terrific acidity as well as richness. Moreover, little oak can be detected despite the fact that it (as well as its siblings) sees 50% new oak. A handful of these Chardonnays (Gravel Bench and Gold Run) see 100% new oak. Of the other 2009 Chardonnays, the Red Point, Broken Road, Bear Point and Gravel Bench are similar to the Upper Barn, with the Gravel Bench perhaps having a more flinty character and the Bear Point slightly more structure.

Chardonnay over the years has had success in the Alexander Valley, but it was of a fashion that reflected the warmth of the location. They were generally fat and oily, and there was certainly a market for that. But Alexander Valley is Cabernet country and Chardonnay will likely always play second fiddle. That said, there are exceptions and Stonestreet's Broken Road Vineyard Chardonnay is a good example. It's an Alexander Valley Chardonnay that behaves a bit like a cool-climate Chardonnay, from its firm acid backbone to the hint of minerality that is unusual for this region. At the core is a beautiful beam of lemony fruit, what I call lemon creme or lemon oil, and it's the marker for seriously good Chardonnay. The oak expresses itself with a lovely spice note on the nose that carries through the finish. It's elegant but not lean, exhibiting an alluring, creamy texture. You might not guess it was from Sonoma Coast or the Russian River, but you'd likely never think Alexander Valley, either. The cool-climate attributes are no doubt due to the elevation of the vineyard -- 1800 feet up Alexander Mountain. Whatever the reason, you are unlikely to find a much better Chard in these parts.

Bright yellow-straw. Pungent lime zest, green tropical fruits, pineapple and snap pea on the nose. Densely packed, tight and minerally, with terrific definition and a tactile quality reminiscent of peach nectar. Very concentrated, vibrant wine with a long, lightly saline finish. From vines planted at an altitude of 1,800 feet.

Aromas of mangoes, pineapples, white peaches, honeyed hazelnuts, and cold steel emerge from this full-bodied, stunningly concentrated effort. These are far and away the most impressive group of Stonestreet Alexander Mountain estate wines I have ever tasted.