In the late 1940’s and early 1960’s, Martin Ray planted six acres of Chardonnay vines propagated from a Burgundian selection grown in the famous Paul Masson vineyard. Twenty acres of estate Chardonnay are now farmed at Mount Eden. Yields are far below the average for Chardonnay in California.

The estate vineyard is harvested when fruit is just slightly yellow to yellow-green in hue and pressed without crushing. Juice is barrel-fermented in new and one-year-old French Burgundy barrels, where the wine undergoes full malolactic fermentation and is ages on the lees for ten months before being lightly filtered and bottled. The Chardonnay then rests in the cellar for two years before release.

This wine is full-bodied yet displays a fine underlying acidity and long finish. Hints of cardamom, anise, and hazelnut add interest to the core lemon and mineral flavours. It will show best with at least two years of cellaring and will continue to amaze over the next ten years.

“Honeyed nut, tangerine peel and baked apple aromas show on the nose of this bottling. A zesty acidity enlivens the palate from front to back, carrying toasty flavors of pan-seared apple, cashew, sea salt and white flower.” 94 points, Matt Kettmann, Wine Enthusiast, November 2021

“Mount Eden’s 2018 Chardonnay offers a fabulous interplay of richness and energy. A wine of linear intensity, the 2018 could use a few more years in bottle to be at its best, but it is super-impressive, even now, in what is very clearly the early going. Lemon confit, mint, orange peel, spice and light butter notes all build into the articulate, polished finish. This is such a classy wine. Give it a few years to come together.” 95 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media, March 2022