WS: 92 ST: 91 Wine Enthusiast: 87 An elegant style, this is sleek in body and rich and layered in flavor, with a subtle display of ripe spice, baked apple, citrus, pear and honeysuckle flavors. Ends with a tapered finish that shows fine toasty oak. Drink now through 2018. 13000 cases made. (WS) Bright medium yellow. Complex, inviting nose melds stone fruits, musky lees, flowers, spices and a truffley, gamey quality. Silky, rich and seamless but with excellent mid-palate energy to the ripe stone fruit and vanillin oak flavors. Fills the mouth without any impression of heaviness, thanks to the racy acidity of the year. Finishes with building stone fruits and lingering notes of spices and flowers. Not at all a honeyed style of chardonnay. (IWC) A big, strong Chardonnay with prominent buttered toast, buttered popcorn, vanilla, and pineapple-orange jam flavors. Elaborate and flashy, but obviously made to appeal to the modern style. Drink up. -- SH (5/1/2013) (WE) Winery Notes: VINTAGE and VINEYARDS: The 2011 vintage began with a wet winter and cool spring that delayed bloom and reduced fruit set, resulting in lower yields in many parts of the North Coast region. Cool temperatures delayed ripening by several weeks, a timetable that continued through the cooler-than-usual summer season. Few high heat events occurred at any point in 2011, and growers managed more open vine canopies to ensure sunlight, warmth and good air circulation around the grape clusters. Beringer's northernmost Chardonnay vineyard and the primary source of the 2011 Private Reserve Chardonnay, Gamble Ranch is located near the town of Yountville, in the Oakville AVA, where daytime temperatures slowly climb as the cooling morning fog recedes south to San Pablo Bay. This significant diurnal shift allows the grapes to maintain their acidity, which is essential to balancing the ripe, rich flavors they develop during warm afternoons. Grapes for the 2011 Private Reserve Chardonnay were harvested between September 22nd and October 1st. WINEMAKING: Each Chardonnay lot was kept separate throughout the aging process. After sending the fruit directly to press, winemaker Laurie Hook fermented the juice in French oak barrels (88 percent new) to enhance the natural richness in the wine. Weekly lees stirring enhanced the toasty notes, and integrated the oak flavors for an overall balance. All of the wine was put through malolactic fermentation to encourage a lush creaminess. After 9 months aging, Laurie chose the most expressive lots and blended them to create a richly layered wine with aromas of crème brulee and rich citrus and fruit flavors. LAURIE'S TASTING NOTES: Aromas of hazelnut and grilled pineapple are followed by flavors of lush, tropical fruits, balanced by a hint of citrus. A rich, creamy mouthfeel is rounded out by a lengthy, elegant finish.