Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay was the first wine produced under the Ramey Wine Cellars label. Hyde Vineyard is on the Napa side of the Carneros District. Summer temperatures are kept relatively cool by marine air flowing through the Petaluma Gap. Ancient creek beds provide drainage and add a scattering of rocks.
Eighty percent of the 2019 vintage is Old Wente field selection (planted 1997 and 1999) and 20% is from a selection of Calera that Larry Hyde chose himself (planted 2014).
From the great site—a marriage made in heaven with this producer—this wine is vibrant in lemon peel and tangerine. Fresh, focused and complex in structure, it presents a richness of Asian pear and spiced oak that develops as it opens on the midpalate. Lush and weighty, this wine has been made since 1996. Virginie Boone