Such an aromatic nose of fresh hay, meyer lemon, baked green apple and dried herbs. Full-bodied with such an incredible amount of refinement. Sleek and seamless. Nuanced is an understatement, as this wine carries multitudes, quietly expressing flavors of fennel seed, dried lily, honeysuckle, toasted almond and sage. Incredible. Drink or hold.

Sugar Shack is produced from Montrachet clone vines grown in Rutherford AVA. It is aged in French oak barrels, 70% new. A barrel sample, the 2019 Chardonnay Sugar Shack has a fabulously flamboyant nose of juicy Bosc pears, ripe apricots and ginger cake with hints of orange blossoms, crème caramel and toasted almonds. The palate is concentrated, full-bodied and beautifully textured with loads of stone fruit and spice layers, finishing long with a chalkiness coming through on the finish.

The 2019 Chardonnay Sugar Shack has come together beautifully since I last tasted it. Oily, viscous and inviting, the 2019 offers up a gorgeous mélange of orange peel, hazelnut, crushed rocks, passion fruit and spice. Time has softened some of the edges in this extroverted, dense Chardonnay.