A big, ripe and intense style, with flavors of rich fig, melon, apple, pear and apricot, finishing long and full, with a smoky oak accent. Delicious now. (Also appeared 5/31/97).

A smooth, rich and complex white that has an attractive array of honey, pear, and butterscotch flavors kissed by spicy, toasty oak. Deep and concentrated, finishing with a satisfying complexity.

Plush and ripe, with rich, intense, focused pear, hazelnut, honey and citrus flavors that are complex, smooth and creamy. Delicious to drink now through 1995.

Stonestreet Estate Vineyards, part of the Kendall-Jackson portfolio, prides itself on the mountainous location of its vineyards. The conventional wisdom is that higher elevation vineyards are cooler, which allows slower ripening, better flavor development and better retention of acidity. This Chardonnay, a blend from several vineyards, supports that idea. Balanced and not overdone, it combines delicate fruitiness with uplifting acidity. Subtle influences of oak aging add to its appeal.

The 2015 Chardonnay Red Point is another wine in this range that is airy and lifted in feel. Orchard fruit, white flowers and mint are nicely delineated in this decidedly understated, pretty Chardonnay. The 100% new oak is well integrated.

Pure and rich, well-centered on a core of honeydew, apricot, pear and fig flavors, showing touches of spicy oak, fresh earth and dried herb. Inviting.

The single-vineyard wines are more similar than dissimilar and all are outstanding efforts from Stonestreet. They all come from elevations ranging from a low of 1,000 feet at Bear Point Vineyard to 1,800-foot elevations, including at Upper Barn, Broken Road and Gravel Bench Vineyards. The 2013 Chardonnay Bear Point Vineyard (343 cases) offers good, ripe, poached pear, and white peach in a full-bodied, long, generously endowed, zesty, crisp and refreshing style.

It is a smaller cuvée of 440 cases. The 2013 Chardonnay Cougar Ridge is a small cuvée of only 277 cases made from clone 72 of Chardonnay. It has great acidity and, much like the Upper Barn, has loads of lemon/honey notes intermixed with tangerine oil and citrus. The wine is luscious and soft, with the oak well-disguised.

Pushing in several directions, this is both rich and layered, with butterscotch, anise and fig notes. Shows a sense of elegance and refinement. Ends with a pithy texture.

From four of the producer’s vineyards, this is a sublimely layered and intriguing wine, pretty and floral on the nose in citrus peel and jasmine. Weighty and plush on the palate, it traffics in caramel and honey, settling into harmony on the lengthy finish.

Smooth and creamy with ripe pear, toasty oak and lovely depth; juicy, bright and complex; deep and balanced.

The 2012 Chardonnay Cougar Ridge emerges from a parcel of Chardonnay grafted onto existing Cabernet Sauvignon rootstock. The Cougar Ridge stands out for its broad-shouldered, intense personality and overt, tropical-inflected profile. At the same time, it shows a little less finesse than the other Chardonnays. Butter, apricot jam, spices and lychee are some of the notes that linger on the close.

Medium yellow. A hint of quince is overshadowed by brown spices, iodine and charred oak on the nose. Plush and seamless, with an attractive restrained sweetness to the flavors of peach, brown spices and crushed stone. Glycerol but shapely thanks to firm acidity. The tactile finish features very good grip.

Silky and smooth with mellow fruit, racy acidity and lovely depth of flavor; long, rich and full with creamy, bright flavors.

Bright green-tinged yellow. Complex aromas of peach, nutmeg, smoky minerality and coconutty, vanillin oak. Silky and broad, with impressive volume to the stone fruit and spice flavors. A note of citrus zest firms the finish. I'd give this a year or so to fill in.

Plump, ripe sweet citrus and Gala apple aromas find full support from creamy oak in a nose that is generous and inviting but not ever bombastic or over the top. The wine is full in body, supple in texture and nicely balanced, and its flavors of Gala apple, Meyer lemon and vanilla creme brulee are very much in the style that is so often found in Sonoma County Chardonnays. A bit of bottle age will deepen it further.

Nearly as awesome is the 2007 Chardonnay Broken Road and 2007 Chardonnay Red Point, both lighter versions of the Upper Barn. Stonestreet is becoming an excellent source for small lots of Chardonnay, although the basic Alexander Valley cuvee is very plentiful (6,500 cases). The single vineyard offerings (between 120 and 350 cases produced of each) are impressive efforts that are more similar than dissimilar since they all come from single vineyard lots, are aged in 50% new French oak (except for the Gravel Bench), and spend 11 months on their lees before bottling.

The 2006 Chardonnay Broken Road, which comes from an even higher elevation of around 1,800 feet, and is treated the same way, offers more minerality, broad orange blossom, nectarine, and guava notes, some hints of hazelnut and brioche, but very full-bodied richness, and slightly more acidity and definition than the Red Point.

From a 1,000-foot elevation, the relatively cool-site 2006 Chardonnay Red Point (which spent 11 months on its lees and went through 100% barrel and malolactic fermentations) exhibits medium to full body and terrific honey and citrus-like fruit as well as orange blossoms. The wine is ripe, pure, and well-delineated.

Green-gold. Intense citrus and herb aromas, with a bright mineral accent. Pleasingly bitter flavors of quinine and lime zest show very good cut and a long, tangy finish. The energy here is really impressive.

Medium gold. Exotic, spicy bouquet shows suave blood orange, peach, tarragon and smoked meat tones. Plush, juicy and deep, with ripe tangerine and candied peach flavors, gentle acidity and a sexy, buttery quality on the back. For all its lushness, this boasts excellent energy and clarity and finishes with a subtle mineral note. This evolved nicely in the glass and should be excellent with lighter poultry dishes.

Subtle nose hints at pineapple. Fat, full and sweet, with distinctly exotic flavors of pineapple, mango and honey. Much rounder than the Block 26 wine, and smoother on the lingering finish. Classic California chardonnay.

Subtly aromatic nose of peach and citrus fruits. Supple and sweet on entry, with mirabelle and peach flavors, then quite firm and gripping on the back half, with notes of grapefruit skin and minerals. A dense, very dry wine with good palate precision and no shortage of stuffing.

More interesting is the 2001 Chardonnay Upper Barn, which boasts glorious notes of honeysuckle, ripe pear, pineapple, and peach-like fruit as well as good underlying acidity in a medium to full bodied, intense, luscious format. It will drink well for 3-4 years.

Limpid yellow-gold. Musky pear skin, lemon pith and succulent herb aromas are lifted by a gingery nuance. Chewy and focused on the palate, offering pear nectar and Meyer lemon flavors that are given spine by a core of dusty minerality. Smoothly plays weight off energy and finishes long and nervy, displaying resonating citrus fruit character.