Ramey Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard 2023 750ml

An opulent, ripe and lush white that overflows with fragrant pear, lemon blossom, baked apple and honey flavors that coat the palate and linger long in the finish. Not too full-bodied at 13.5% alcohol, yet it has the lushness and concentration to make it memorable. It's the last vintage of Ramey Ritchie. Drink now or hold.

The 2023 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard is light on its feet, with appealing lift and spice, as well as flinty wet stones, dewy earth, salted lime, lemon meringue, key lime, and fresh pastry notes. A bright but pale yellow color, it’s full-bodied yet incredibly elegant and refined, with a waxy texture and terrific depth on the palate. Drink over the coming 20 years. Drink 2026-2046.

The 2023 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard is the last iteration of this single vineyard from the Ramey family, who is sourcing more fruit from their estate vineyards and other multigenerational family farms. What a way to go out—it’s intensely perfumed and expressive! It floods the senses with waves of matchstick, peach, pineapple, lemongrass and jasmine. The full-bodied palate is highly concentrated with hedonistic, flint-laced flavors. Its generosity is foiled by racy acidity, and it has a long, shimmery finish.

A stunning style, with plenty of focus, intensity and precision to its notes of Cosmic Crisp apple, lemon sorbet and lime sherbet on a sleek and mouthwatering frame. Freshly grated ginger, lemon pepper and vetiver elements, along with lemon balm and a whiff of orange blossoms, all gain momentum on the finish, where grace notes of jasmine tea and toasted sesame seed emerge. Drink now through 2038.

Ritchie is one of those Sonoma Chardonnay vineyards that has become a benchmark over time, and Ramey - a benchmark Sonoma Chardonnay producer - has been one of its longest-tenured partners. The vines were planted in the early 1970s, though subsequent interplanting over the decades has made the blocks a mix of ages. While the site is mostly planted to Old Wente, the pockets of Musque clone running through the vineyard are a big part of what makes this wine so aromatic. David Ramey has long been a purist about Chardonnay, looking at Burgundy, but the use of new oak in the Ramey wines has gradually been reduced over the decades to what they say are 'homoeopathic levels' - barely perceptible year to year, but significant over time. Worth noting that 2023 will be the final vintage Ramey makes from this site, which is quite a shame. The wine opens with a perfumed, expressive nose of ripe fruit with a gentle tropical lean - white peach, sweet white flowers, and a thread of flint underneath. The palate is full and generous, but a lively acidity (the grapes in 2023 were picked almost three weeks later than in 2022) cuts through the richness and carries the wine to a nice finish.

The 2023 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard is powerful and quite savory. Orchard fruit, dried herbs, marzipan, white flowers and chalk all run through this potent Chardonnay. I find the Ritchie a touch aggressive in its contours and not quite as complete as the other Chardonnays in the range. This is the last vintage of the Ritchie Chardonnay at Ramey.