2010 Chardonnay Reserve

Jeffrey Patterson is one of the most soft-spoken winemakers in California, but don't let that fool you; he is a man of deeply held convictions, with strong views that inform all of his wines. Mount Eden and its sister estate Domaine Eden remain surprisingly under the radar. Part of that is undoubtly a result of the decision to sell most of the production through distribution rather than direct to the consumer, where there is a greater opportunity to build a stronger bond and brand awareness with the end customer. What that means in practical terms is that these wines sell for far less than wines of similar quality from other parts of the US and around the world. The Mount Eden wines remain reference points for the Santa Cruz Mountains, while the Domaine Eden range is designed to deliver that pedigree at more accessible prices. In addition to these current releases, Patterson also showed me all of the vintages of his Chardonnay Reserve. For his Reserve, Patterson takes a portion of the Chardonnay juice and gives it an additional six months in tank, a reductive approach favored by a number of top growers in Burgundy, including (Domaine) Leflaive and Roulot, among many others. Lastly, Patterson has decided to put all of his Mount Eden wines on the same release schedule, which means the 2013 Pinot Noir will be released with the other 2013s next year. Although the Santa Cruz Mountains has seen a rush of interest in the last few years, when all is said and done there are two winemakers who remain the unquestioned reference-points because of their unparalleled track records; Paul Draper and his team at Ridge and Jeffrey Patterson at Mount Eden.

Readers will find plenty to get excited about in these new releases from Mount Eden. In particular, the 2011 Chardonnay is outrageously beautiful. Proprietor Jeffrey Patterson has been making reference point wines for decades, yet for some reason Mount Eden flies under the radar. That won't always be the case. In top vintages, these are among the most compelling wines in California. Patterson takes a pretty minimalist approach in the cellar. The wines are all done with native yeasts and are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Patterson describes 2012 as an easy growing season with a late bud break and otherwise very even conditions, with no heat spikes, all of which resulted in a large crop. By comparison, 2011 also saw a late bud-break, but ill-timed harvest just as the Chardonnay and Pinot were in bloom lowered yields significantly.