Well-made Napa Chardonnay deploys restrained oak and full malolactic conversion to deliver a polished pour that avoids the sharp edges of an unoaked Chard and the excessive melodrama of too much wood and butter some Napa makers produced in the past. $38-40
Around half the grapes were sourced from Haire Vineyards in Carneros. Vines are about 30-year-old Wente and Robert Young clones hand-picked in the cool morning hours. The remaining fruit came from the southern Napa Valley. Production in 2023 was a drought-breaking “winemaker’s vintage” and one of the coolest growing seasons in decades. There were no pesky heat spikes during harvest. Winemaker Jesse Fox says it was the coolest vintage Napa has seen in 30 years.
This wine reflects the cool vintage with its good acidity and salinity/minerality. Whole-cluster pressed. Fermented with native yeast. The wine aged 11 months sur lie in 33% new French oak with twice-monthly bâtonnage. There was 100% malolactic conversion, so the wine has richness and butter, but not the gratuitous excess of the late 20th century. The wine won Reserve Grand Champion Best of Show at the 2026 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition and sold at auction for a Rodeo record $285,000 in the Reserve Grand Champion category. A nice effort by Fox and Sequoia Grove.
Jim and Barbara Allen purchased the vineyard in 1978. The 24-acre property originally was part of the 1836 Rancho Caymus land grant. Wine production began inside a renovated, old barn surrounded by coastal sequoias (coast redwood) planted in the early 1900s. Jim’s brother, Steve, joined the team in 1979 and served as the longtime vineyard manager. Sequoia Grove is certified Napa Green.
The Kopf family, owners of Kobrand Corporation (Kobrand Wine & Spirits), initially served as Sequoia Grove’s national sales and marketing partner an gained an equity stake beginning in 1985. Three Kopf sisters purchased the winery outright in 2002, when Jim Allen retired. Sequoia Grove operates under the Kopf family’s winery production portfolio—French American Vintners—that includes St. Francis Winery & Vineyards in Sonoma County, a partnership with Taittinger in Domaine Carneros, and Maison Louis Jadot in Burgundy.
Sequoia Grove Chardonnay, Napa Valley 2023: Pale gold-straw color; white peach, poached apple, pear, lemon-lime, pineapple, hint of vanilla, almonds, subtle saline/minerality on the nose and palate.
Dry; no significant tannins; enough acidity to work nicely with food. Rich fruit, malolactic conversion, and the oak regimen give this an illusion of sweetness, although it certainly is dry from a residual sugar (RS) perspective. Medium-plus body. Creamy. Although built on a classic Napa Chardonnay template—vivid fruit, malo conversion, time in oak—this deftly avoids butter-bomb excesses thanks to fresh acidity and the mineral/saline notes on the finish. 14.1% ABV
Pairing—Lobster roll, shrimp in butter sauce, crab cakes, scallops with brown butter and corn purée, halibut/sea bass with light cream or beurre blanc sauce; roast chicken, pork tenderloin with apple or stone-fruit sauces, creamy risotto; salads with creamy dressing. Cheese—Brie de Meaux is classic; Camembert, Gruyère, Comté (aged 12-18 months), young Gouda, Havarti; mild cheddar.
