The Seabed.
2017 Radio-Coteau
"SeaBed" Chardonnay
Very limited!
(Best current price in CA: $97.)
Our price: $85. Buy here.
TL;DR: Radio-Coteau may be among California's greatest (and most acclaimed) producers of terroir-driven wines in the US... and this is their first-ever estate-grown Chardonnay! Highly acclaimed and very hard to get... and we're selling it at the best price in CA besides!
“Radio-Coteau's Eric Sussman and Davida Ebner craft some of the most transparent, site-driven wines readers will taste in the United States."
-Vinous Magazine
Ask any wine critic for their short list of the very best names in elegant, Old World-styled, terroir-driven winemakers in California? One name's sure to be on it: Radio-Coteau.
Beloved by geeks and wine mags alike (Wine & Spirits has chosen Radio-Coteau as one of the top 100 wineries in the world for five years straight!) they've changed the definition of Californian "cult wines" as much as any winemaker in the state.
Whereas in the 90's and early 2000's, a "cult wine" meant something rich, ripe, and loaded with sometimes steroidal fruit-power (yes, even when the grapes were Chardonnay, or Pinot Noir!), winemakers like Radio-Coteau's Eric Sussman changed the equation. Having trained in Burgundy, he saw a different route for Californian wines... one of elegance, earth, and restraint.
Radio-Coteau is now inarguably among the first names in Californian winemaking. While their much sought-after Chards have historically been sourced from some of the best sites in CA (Heintz and Savoy vineyards, e.g.), their long-term vision was always to become an estate-only winery.... They just had to a) somehow acquire an estate worthy of their winemaking (gulp!)and b) wait till their estate vineyard fruit was deemed ready for its debut! This, then, is a big moment: the very first release of their estate-grown wines.
The Radio-Coteau homestead
Over a decade ago, Radio-Coteau acquired an historic 42-acre estate vineyard and ranch, located high up on a ridge above western Sonoma's town of Occidental. Originally named Joseph Morelli & Sons before Prohibition, the Lemorel winery (as it was later known) dates back to 1892, when the first vines were planted.
Located directly adjacent to the Heintz vineyard — a site Robert Parker called "one of the greatest Grand Cru sites for Chardonnay in California" — the Radio-Coteau property is a cool-climate wonderland set high (800 feet above sea level!) atop western Sonoma's prized Goldridge soils. This, then, is the first snapshot of their vision for the future.
And what a snapshot it is! Vinous's notoriously hard-to-please critic Antonio Galloni gave it a 95, and wrote:
Beloved by geeks and wine mags alike (Wine & Spirits has chosen Radio-Coteau as one of the top 100 wineries in the world for five years straight!) they've changed the definition of Californian "cult wines" as much as any winemaker in the state.
Whereas in the 90's and early 2000's, a "cult wine" meant something rich, ripe, and loaded with sometimes steroidal fruit-power (yes, even when the grapes were Chardonnay, or Pinot Noir!), winemakers like Radio-Coteau's Eric Sussman changed the equation. Having trained in Burgundy, he saw a different route for Californian wines... one of elegance, earth, and restraint.
Radio-Coteau is now inarguably among the first names in Californian winemaking. While their much sought-after Chards have historically been sourced from some of the best sites in CA (Heintz and Savoy vineyards, e.g.), their long-term vision was always to become an estate-only winery.... They just had to a) somehow acquire an estate worthy of their winemaking (gulp!)and b) wait till their estate vineyard fruit was deemed ready for its debut! This, then, is a big moment: the very first release of their estate-grown wines.
The Radio-Coteau homestead
Over a decade ago, Radio-Coteau acquired an historic 42-acre estate vineyard and ranch, located high up on a ridge above western Sonoma's town of Occidental. Originally named Joseph Morelli & Sons before Prohibition, the Lemorel winery (as it was later known) dates back to 1892, when the first vines were planted.
Located directly adjacent to the Heintz vineyard — a site Robert Parker called "one of the greatest Grand Cru sites for Chardonnay in California" — the Radio-Coteau property is a cool-climate wonderland set high (800 feet above sea level!) atop western Sonoma's prized Goldridge soils. This, then, is the first snapshot of their vision for the future.
And what a snapshot it is! Vinous's notoriously hard-to-please critic Antonio Galloni gave it a 95, and wrote:
"The 2017 Chardonnay Estate SeaBed is another stellar wine from Radio-Coteau. Bright citrus, floral and saline notes give the 2017 its energetic, sculpted personality. A kiss of new French oak adds character without overpowering the wine; the SeaBed is a Chardonnay of real personality. "
Shot through with notes of crushed rocks, white flowers, dried herbs, and a chalky sense of its coastal origins, this is a wine of real elegance and transparency. We were as flattered to get some as we are thrilled to share it with you!
2017 Radio-Coteau
"SeaBed" Chardonnay
Very limited! Buy now or hold your peace!
Our price: $85. Buy here.