The Data

Country   USA

Appellation   Russian River Valley

Varietal   Chardonnay

Retail Price   $55

ABV   14.6%

Score   5 Stars/96 points

In the Glass

Brilliant, light golden color.

The aromatics are intense, offering scents of green apple, lychee, and oak with supporting notes of mineral, citrus zest, and lemon curd.

The palate echoes the nose delivering a ripe orchard fruits-driven core with flavors of pear, slate, vanilla custard, peach, and orange peel. The finish is long and lingering.

Medium to full-bodied and perfectly balanced with an opulent texture.

Cool Factor

Tongue Dancer's eighth release of their Bacigalupi Chardonnay is an absolute gem offering unbeatable depth and balance making it very, very cool.

Value Grade

Year after year these wines from Tongue Dancer Wines deliver value. Superior fruit and winemaking skills conspire to make outstanding wines made in small quantities — Bravo!

Analysis

The 2022 vintage marks the eighth edition of their lovely Bacigalupi Vineyard Chardonnay, and we are awed by its consistent greatness. In 2022, harvest can be earlier than usual, landing on a similar date in the 2015 vintage (the first year for this wine). The wine is concentrated and intense, giving all the signals of a long life in the cellar if you can retrain yourself from its obvious early drinking charms. This vineyard features the Old Wente clone — a Chardonnay clone brought to California from Burgundy in 1912 by C.H. Wente. The grapes were all hand-picked and sorted in the field. Like previous vintages, the 2022 Bacigalupi Chardonnay is completely barrel-fermented, and it goes through malolactic fermentation, creating an opulent texture. The wine was then rested, sur lie, for a period of 14 months in French oak (20% new). This amazing and perfectly balanced Chardonnay is made entirely at their Grapewagon Crush facility in Healdsburg.

How to Enjoy

Serve chilled but not too cold or you will suppress the subtle nuances abundant in this wine. Pair it with roasted fowl or fatty grilled fish. Of course it really needs nothing but a glass. Try to hold on to a bottle or two until 2027.