2024 Stags' Leap Winery - Chardonnay Napa (750ml)

Stags' Leap Winery poured its very first vintage in 1893, and that same classical standard of care in the vineyard and cellar still guides the estate more than a century later. The winery has long balanced richness with minerality in its wines, an approach that reflects both the Stags Leap District's dramatic terrain and a winemaking philosophy that has stayed remarkably consistent across generations of ownership.

This Chardonnay is sourced from cooler pockets of southern Napa Valley, where fog drifting in from San Pablo Bay tempers the growing season and preserves natural acidity. Most of the fruit comes from Carneros, contributing citrus, mineral, and crisp apple character, with a smaller portion from Oak Knoll adding riper stone fruit and tropical notes. The 2024 growing season played out as a more textbook, even keeled year, with generous winter rains recharging the soil and supporting steady, healthy canopy growth through harvest. The wine is barrel fermented with regular lees stirring, building texture without sacrificing brightness.

The glass shows a shimmering golden hue, with aromas of lemon confit, sliced pear, and wet slate layered with warm baking spice. The palate turns lively and lightly viscous, carrying white peach and Asian pear through to a long, graceful finish marked by racy acidity and stony minerality. Pour it with Dungeness crab cakes, roast pheasant, or aged manchego.