2021 Chardonnay Estate

Tom Rochioli is one of Sonoma’s old-timers, and yet his wines remain extremely contemporary. Rochioli describes 2021 as a year with an early budbreak and generally low yields caused by a late frost the year later. Rochioli has pulled back from the riper style he favored in the 2000s, but I can’t say the wines have lost much intensity. If anything, the balance today is super-compelling. For readers opening these wines now, the Chardonnays especially need a ton of air to blossom. I was quite happy to taste these wines at home, where I was able to follow them over a much longer period of time than is possible on any estate visit and really witness how well they responded to aeration. The Chardonnays were bottled in July 2022, while the Pinots were bottled in December 2022.