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Unoaked, Chablis-style Napa Chardonnay with peach, honeysuckle and green apple, plus lemon, pear and a saline edge. Medium-bodied and lively, with bright natural acidity, a creamy mid-palate from lees ageing and a long, mouthwatering finish.
Available in store
Close100% Chardonnay
Food pairings: Chilled crab cocktail, seafood pasta, roast chicken and fresh cheeses.
Scores:
Winemaking: This Chardonnay sees no oak at all, to show the pure character of the grape. The fruit is picked at night and the cool clusters are pressed whole to limit contact with the skins and yield delicate, fresh juice. After cold settling, the juice is fermented in stainless steel at low temperatures with a cold-tolerant yeast often used in Champagne, which keeps the aromas expressive. The cool fermentation prevents malolactic fermentation and preserves the natural acidity. Six months on the fine lees in stainless steel add a creamy mid-palate that balances the bright fruit and the long, lingering finish. The 2023 was harvested in September 2023 and bottled in April 2024.
Vineyards and terroir: The grapes come from a site on the west side of the Oak Knoll District, one of the cooler appellations of the Napa Valley, at the southern end of the valley floor just north of the city of Napa. Breezes and fog from San Pablo Bay give a long, gentle growing season, ideal for a fresh, mineral style of Chardonnay with good depth on the mid-palate.
Family and history: Bob Foley began making wine in the Napa Valley in 1977, after graduating from UC Davis in viticulture and enology. He started at Heitz Cellars, learning from Joe Heitz and André Tchelistcheff, then spent 15 years as the founding winemaker of Markham Vineyards and another 15 at Pride Mountain Vineyards. Along the way he also created Switchback Ridge, Hourglass, Paloma and School House. In 1998 Robert Foley Vineyards bottled its flagship Claret, and the range has since grown to include a Chardonnay made in a Chablis style. Best known for expressive, long-lived reds, the winery is based on Howell Mountain, above Angwin, where the wines age in a cave system completed in 2008. It is still a small, hands-on operation: Bob makes the wine, and his wife Kelly Kehoe runs the business.
In the pictures: Old vines in autumn colour in the Oak Knoll District, Napa (photo: Treephoto, 2025, CC BY-SA 4.0). An old stone barn among the oaks at Angwin, on Howell Mountain (photo: E10ddie, 2011, CC BY-SA 3.0).
