After reading the news, I decided I was definitely having wine today, and I figured I may as well try to distract myself by writing up some notes.

Rivers-Marie is one of my favorite producers in California who is still at a point in their evolution where they haven’t blown up so much that the wines are astronomically expensive. A project by Thomas RIVERS Brown and his wife Genevieve MARIE Welsh, the aim of this label was to make Burgundian style wines in California focusing on the fruit without going too crazy on the oak. So far everything I’ve had from them has been spectacular, and while I don’t necessarily consider the bottles I’ve had to be Burgundian, they’ve all been damn good California representations of Pinot, Chard, and Cab.

This is their base-tier Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, but they have some incredible single-vineyard offerings as well, all of which seem to be really pure, fresh, and energetic examples of what these grapes are capable of in the hands of the right winemakers.

2023 Rivers-Marie Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, California- The first thing I would say is that I have opened this bottle a little bit too early. The nose has a lot of signs that the bottle needs a bit more time to fully come out of its muted era and start properly expressing itself. The other thing that stands out is that this Chardonnay is much more “Californian” than the Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, with much more noticeable oak and malolactic influences.

On the nose, the first things to hit you are white flowers, salted butter, peach skin, lemon oil, lemon peel, slightly underripe pineapple, underripe pear, orange, and a vanilla/toast/caramel note. This has a very traditional California Chardonnay nose to it, though I will say the oak and ML notes are quite refined and not nearly as “in your face” as some of the more typical Cali Chards.

On the palate though, those oak and malolactic notes take a bit of a back seat to the full and concentrated fruit flavors and fresh acidity. Peach skin, lemon curd, lemon oil, orange peel, and orange zest are strong and full. After that, you get a slap of vanilla, caramel, salted butter, and a hint of spice.

The weight of this wine in the mouth is incredible, and the concentration of the acidity just permeates through every sip, like a lemon hard candy with a vanilla-caramel coating that punches your tongue with tartness when you make it through the outer shell.

An excellent bottle for those out there who enjoy a good California Chardonnay.