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Vivid aromas of tangerine peel, citrus blossom and ripe stone fruit lead to a palate lifted by hints of lychee and a delicate thread of coastal salinity. Subtle oak adds a supple, rounded texture, letting the vibrant fruit and minerality shine.
Available in store
Close100% Chardonnay
Food pairings: Roast chicken with herbs, seared sea scallops with lemon-butter sauce, crab cakes and other shellfish, creamy mushroom risotto and pesto pasta.
Winemaking: The grapes for the 2024 were harvested by hand. Primary fermentation took place with wild yeasts, in French oak barrels (75%) and stainless-steel tank (25%), and malolactic fermentation was completed in all but one quarter of the final blend. The wine then aged for ten months in French oak barrels from the coopers Damy, Cavin and Tremeaux, 15% of them new, with monthly lees stirring (bâtonnage). The oak is subtle, contributing more to a supple, rounded texture than to overt flavor.
Vineyards and terroir: Valravn's Sonoma County Chardonnay is built on a core of Russian River Valley fruit, with some from Dry Creek Valley, complemented by barrel selections cut from the team's single-vineyard Marine Layer wines, all from the Sonoma Coast: the Bohemian, Heintz, Gap's Crown, Hawk Hill and MLV Estate vineyards. Thanks to friendships with vineyard owners and growers built over more than a decade, Valravn has exclusive access to grapes from fantastic vineyards and oversees production hands-on from vineyard to bottle.
Family and history: Valravn is the Sonoma County label of Baron Ziegler, a Minnesota native who began buying Bordeaux futures at 15, built a career in wine retail and importing on the East Coast, and moved to California in 2007. Two years later he co-founded Banshee Wines, followed by the import company Valkyrie Selections and the Valravn label. After Banshee was sold, the team kept its grower contracts and built Valravn on them, launching in 2014 with a Zinfandel from old, bush-pruned vines. Winemaker Rob Fischer, a Napa native who honed his craft at Domaine Carneros, Donum Estate, Ancien and Etude, joined in 2017. The goal: single-vineyard quality Sonoma County wines that are approachable, delicious and table-ready, at prices that punch above their weight.
In the pictures: Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, Sonoma County (photo: Simon Davison, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons). Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley seen from Everett Ridge Winery (photo: Fuzchia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons).
