Arterberry Maresh Chardonnay
Dundee Hills
We are best known for our Pinot Noirs but we have a special place in our hearts for Chardonnay. Jim’s style is more Chablis than California – he makes a sophisticated, Chablis-style Chardonnay with tremendous complexity and nuanced flavors. In 2021 Jim started a new label, Tan Fruit, dedicated to Chardonnay made in his own style.
2021 Vintage
Tasting notes coming soon.
2019 Vintage
WINE ADVOCATE 96 POINTS
The 2019 Dundee Hills Chardonnay was matured for 12 months in barrel and six months in stainless steel. It has a pure perfume of white orchard fruits laced with beeswax, almonds and flint. The palate is satiny and energetic from its linear acidity and expansive, gently honeyed layers, and it finishes long and youthfully shimmery. This is an excellent candidate for some extended time in the cellar.
2018 Vintage
WINE ADVOCATE 93 POINTS
The 2018 Dundee Hills Chardonnay is wonderfully inviting and hedonistic! It has a perfume of spiced apples and quince, hazelnuts and beeswax, with wafts of floral perfume. The palate is broad, creamy and loaded with honeyed fruits, with juicy freshness to help carry the long, powerfully fruited finish.
2017 Vintage
WINE ADVOCATE 93 POINTS
This is Jim Maresh’s entry-level Chardonnay, barrel fermented and finished in stainless steel. It comes from Dijon 76 clone vines planted in 1991 on a steep, south-facing slope. The 2017 Dundee Hills Chardonnay has a lovely, open-knit nose of honeycomb, orange blossom, apple pie, crushed hazelnuts, clotted cream, baked peaches, hay and a unique umami-like undercurrent. The palate is medium-bodied and silky, tethered by tangy acidity and a hint of phenolic texture, finishing long and nuanced with incredible tension and energy. Even this “village” level Chardonnay manages class and hedonism. This could use another couple of years in bottle at least. It’s bottled under Diam 30 and should age well.
2016 Vintage
WINE ADVOCATE 93 POINTS
The 2016 Dundee Hills Chardonnay offers wonderful, fresh Bosc pear and yellow apple skin aromas with baby’s breath flowers, fresh toast, crushed rock and hay accents. Medium to full-bodied, it has a slightly creamy texture and wicked juicy acidity, with toasty flavors and earthy accents over concentrated tree fruits, finishing very long and very minerally. 100 cases produced.
“Only a handful of Pinot Noirs in my experience have delivered greater beauty or more striking singularity.” 98 Points.
– Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate on 1985 Maresh Vineyard Pinot noir
