91 Robert Parker - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"An elegant effort is the 2006 Chardonnay Porter Bass Vineyard. Revealing more hazelnut, brioche, and tropical fruit characteristics, it is a restrained, well-balanced white to drink over the next 2-3 years." -91 points Robert Parker

"Oak currently stars in this tight, immature Chardonnay. Its parts haven’t melded together. The smoky, caramelized wood is over here, the pears, green apples and mangoes are over there, and the acidity is free-floating all around. Needs time. Wait until mid-2009." -90 points Wine Enthusiast

WINE:
"Initially smoky and meaty in the glass, the wine evolves and unfolds an amazing, delicate complexity of aromas and flavors. Subtle scents of lime and white flowers invoke sweet and spice from honeysuckle, jasmine, and freesia blossoms that resolve into flavors of lime, pear, green apple and pineapple. The texture is lean, crisp and full with a long finish of a lingering green apple, citrus and smoke." -Winery

VINEYARDS:
"Sue and Dirck Porter-Bass found this century old vineyard in 1980. Working very hard and farming organically and now biodynamically, they have revived this historical treasure into a magical site. The vineyard is situated nine miles from the ocean in a saddle between two ridge tops. The Russian River carves a gentle oxbow around these ridges allowing the fog to drift to the foot of the vineyard, cooling the vines in summer. Protected from temperature extremes, gentle ripening occurs in the two clones of Chardonnay that Bjornstad harvests. The Rued clone is a Musque selection and produces a wine of delicate, floral aromas and is the first to be harvested. The Wente clone is next and provides the firm, structure and earthy, mineral characters upon which the lovely aspects of the Rued are juxtaposed. The soils are within the Hugo- Josephine Complex, common in West Sonoma County. The texture is a gravelly clay loam, being a fractured shale that commonly underlies the Goldridge Series." -Winery

This scored 83 points with the Wine Spectator.