Maple Creek Winery

This wine is a rare combination of two adjacent appellations in Mendocino County: Anderson Valley and Yorkville Highlands. Both contributed 50 percent to the blend – the Anderson Valley fruit came from Eaglehearth Vineyard in the warm half of the valley, and the Yorkville Highlands grapes came from Maple Creek’s own estate vineyard. Both vineyards were picked in October, so while the sugars weren’t that high, the hang-time was still long. Winemaker Tom Rodrigues got the idea to put the two together and voilá: a Double Gold medal winner and Best In Class Chardonnay for Mendocino County.

The wine saw plenty of good oak on its way to the bottle, so the traditional Chardonnay flavors and aromas of apples and pears are overlaid with butterscotch. For that matter, the apple component is more like apple pie with a toasty crust. All this comes full on when you sip. It’s what happens next that sets this wine apart: the cool dense core of flavor opens up slowly, almost teasingly, into multiple layers while the texture goes all creamy and the body seems to both expand and elongate, connecting the aftertaste to the initial aromas. A pleasure to have in your mouth, and some fine winemaking as well.

Reviewed August 23, 2007 by Thom Elkjer.