2022 Cattleya, Chardonnay, Cuvée Number Five, Sonoma Coast.
The brilliant and engrossing Cuvée Number Five Chardonnay by winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, is as she notes, composed of different vineyards influenced by the cooling effect of the coastal fog off the Pacific Ocean with complex soils and multiple clones. Rich on the palate, but with Burgundy like elegance, mineral tones and purring acidity, this pale star/gold hued 2022 Cuvée Number Five shows off apple, white peach, Bosc pear, lemon curd and kiwi fruit, as well as hints of orange blossoms, clove spice, hazelnut, bitter quince, wet stone and juicy salinity. Not as dense and creamy as the Temptress Russian River bottling, but still concentrated and complex, this will appeal to those that appreciate exceptional California Chardonnays, like Hansel, Mount Eden, Aubert, Ramey, Peay and Peter Michael, to name a few. Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni’s own label Cattleya, which she founded in 2012, is full of outstanding wines, like this one, and really showcases her talents in the form of small lot hand-crafted bottlings that are mainly available direct from her mailing list, which I highly recommend joining as soon as possible. As mentioned before, Bibiana’s resume is impressive, including her stints at Château Haut-Brion in Pessac-Leognan as well as with Domaine Stéphane Ogier in Côte-Rôtie, to name just a few!
The Cuvée Number Five Chardonnay comes from two unique vineyards siting above1,000 feet of elevation: Sun Chase and Nightwing, which provide exceptional fruit for this wine. This wine is a blend of three different clonal selections of Chardonnay including 76 Clone, 95 Clone and Old Wente Clone, all which add to the dimension, balance and elegance found in this Cuvée Number Five bottling. Bibiana says her Chardonnay grapes were delicatley and meticulously hand-sorted before being gently presed. After an overnight cold-setting, the juice was racked clean to 60% new French oak barrels where native fermentation worked slowly top reserve the pronounced fruit notes, followed by malolactic fermentation creating added richness and complexity. This Cattleya Chardonnay was bottled unfined and unfiltered after its 11 months of aging in wood. This Chardoonay came in at 14.1% natural alcohol and feels supple and lively with a nice tension holding everything together to near perfection. Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, the Colombian born winemaker and vineyard consultant, as noted here, is making some stunning not to miss wines, especially those under her signature Cattleya label, which includes an incredible set of Chardonnays, such as this one, Pinot Noirs and her awesome Syrah offerings, which are my absolute favorites, from her husband’s (Jeff Pisoni) family’s vines in the Santa Lucia Highlands.
($70 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive