2022 Iron Horse Estate Grown Chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Tasting Notes
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” is a famous quote from Shakespeare, which beautifully applies to this Estate Chardonnay, formerly known as “UnOaked”. To all fans of our UnOaked Chardonnay, rest assured that the essence and pleasures of this wine remain unchanged – crisp acidity and purity of our gorgeous Green Valley fruit.
The nose on this vintage has juicy red apple, lychee fruit, dried stone fruit, and hints of tropical fruit. Citrus notes on the front palate, with juicy apple following amazing acidity throughout the mouth, and a touch of pear on the end with a sophisticated finish.
Artisanal Winemaking
All of our Chardonnay is handled one lot at a time. Only as the grapes arrive at the winery do we decide how to treat them. Sometimes it is straight to the press as whole clusters, while other times a cold soak might be necessary. All of the UnOaked Chardonnay had an overnight skin contact soaking before pressing to control acidity with a cold stainless steel fermentation (between 60°F and 63°F) to retain esters, i.e., brightness, minerality, and exotic fruit elements.
Precision Winegrowing
At Iron Horse “Estate Bottled” means that the winemaking begins in the vineyard. Our location in Green Valley, 12 Miles from the Ocean, represents the very best soil, climate, and aspects for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Our goal is to grow the best winegrapes which we call “precision farming.” All pruning, canopy management, irrigation, and cover crop decisions are determined on a block-by-block (and sometimes even vine-by-vine) basis, considering both the vintage at hand and the long-term needs of the land. Certified Sustainable.
For Sparkling and Still Wine, Precision Harvesting is Key:
Our only rule is to make the best wines we can. We wait until harvest to decide sparkling or still, as the main difference is the brix level (or the amount of sugar in the grapes, less for sparklings, more for still). Then winemaker, David Munksgard, considers berry size (bigger is better for sparklings, smaller for still), the health of the canopy, clone selection, even small details such as the relative dampness of the cover crop can make a difference. If necessary, parts of a single block may be picked on different days.
Specs
Appellation: Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Sonoma County
Blend: 100% Rued Clone Chardonnay
Alcohol: 13.5% v/v
Acidity: 5.4 g/L
Residual Sugar: <2.0 g/L
pH: 3.4
Malolactic Fermentation: None
Barrels: None
Harvest Dates: September 6 - September 9, 2022
Date Bottled: January 25, 2024
Total Production: 1208 Cases
What’s Included
6-bottles:
6x 2022 Iron Horse Estate Grown Chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley Case:
12x 2022 Iron Horse Estate Grown Chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Iron Horse is one of Sonoma County’s most prestigious, small, independent, estate, family-owned wineries located in cool, foggy Green Valley. Iron Horse Sparkling Wines have been served at the White House for five consecutive presidential administrations, beginning with the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit Meeting in Geneva on November 20, 1985, which led to the end of the Cold War. Wine & Spirits Magazine has named Iron Horse Sparkling Winery of the Year nine times. From the beginning, Robert Parker has said, “These impressive Sparkling Wines…possess more texture and flavor than just about any sparkler I have tasted from California.”
Available States
AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
UPS lost this bottle, so it arrived very late this afternoon. Sorry, no pics and this is quick and dirty. This is formerly known as unoaked. It’s a very light yellow in the glass with a nice citrusy nose. It’s a crisp, bright wine, lemon/pithe initially w/ green apple in the mid. It’s got lovely acidity with almost no burn and nice minerality with a hint of pear at the finish. This is extremely refreshing. Will pair well with lighter foods that have a bit of fat in them for the acidity to work with. I had a bit of rosemary pork chop and it was a nice pairing. This really isn’t a dessert wine, though, so finish it with your main course. The warmer the wine gets, a little astringency starts to peak through so if that’s something you want to avoid, keep it on ice/in the fridge. Anything $15 or less is probably reasonable to good QPR.
Yay for IronHorse (formerly know as Unoaked) Chardonnay! No malolactic and no oak. This is an auto-buy for 2 cases. Didn’t even need a rat report for this one. I did buy the Keller from a few weeks ago as an alternative but it has yet to arrive.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2022 Iron Horse Chardonnay - 19.44%
Well it looks like this popular wine doesn’t need much of a review, but here goes!
Happily received the notification this week that we would be receiving a Lab Rat wine in the mail. We received the Iron Horse Chardonnay and the timing worked out perfectly as we already had a dinner with friends on the calendar. Admittedly, as the daughter of a mother who only drinks old school, buttery, oaky chardonnays - it’s not my favorite varietal but we approached it with an open mind.
First sips had a bit of a zing to them. The minerality definitely came through. After letting the wine mellow in the glass briefly this zippiness dissipated. You then find essence of green apple and a light sweetness. The wine is classified as medium bodied but I think it leans more to the light side of medium.
We were enjoying a picnic dinner out at the lake and this wine was a perfect addition. It held up well to our Mediterranean dishes with enough body to hold up to a harissa salmon dish.
Our group of six, none typical Chardonnay drinkers, all agreed that this was a very enjoyable wine and one we would definitely purchase to have on hand at home.
All said, this was a lovely wine to drink on a warm fall evening while watching the sunset over the lake. Consider me a new believer in the goodness of a glass of Chardonnay! Well done Iron Horse! No surprise there. Thank you for the opportunity to review it. Cheers!!
Oh my! I’m glad I pulled the trigger for a case before I turned out the light last night/this morning! This is one of our favorite Chardonnays! It’s funny how our tastes change and develop. We now prefer unoaked. Thank you, Joy and WD for this wonderful offer!
Here’s my beef. The site is called Casemates and its original intention was to get people to buy a case or more to share with others. Cases sold out overnight and I am 100 percent certain more cases could have been made available based on the sales but we’re not. I suspect it’s the profit margin but doesn’t this go against the very essence of the business model sold to many of us old timers after wine woot? Rant over
2022 Iron Horse Estate Grown Chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Tasting Notes
Artisanal Winemaking
Precision Winegrowing
For Sparkling and Still Wine, Precision Harvesting is Key:
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale on winery website $384.00/Case
About The Winery
Available States
AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Oct 20 - Tuesday, Oct 21
2022 Iron Horse Chardonnay
6 bottles for $89.99 $15/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $144.99 $12.08/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Iron Horse Estate Chardonnay 2022
UPS lost this bottle, so it arrived very late this afternoon. Sorry, no pics and this is quick and dirty. This is formerly known as unoaked. It’s a very light yellow in the glass with a nice citrusy nose. It’s a crisp, bright wine, lemon/pithe initially w/ green apple in the mid. It’s got lovely acidity with almost no burn and nice minerality with a hint of pear at the finish. This is extremely refreshing. Will pair well with lighter foods that have a bit of fat in them for the acidity to work with. I had a bit of rosemary pork chop and it was a nice pairing. This really isn’t a dessert wine, though, so finish it with your main course. The warmer the wine gets, a little astringency starts to peak through so if that’s something you want to avoid, keep it on ice/in the fridge. Anything $15 or less is probably reasonable to good QPR.
This is perfect timing. I’m running low on white wine and this was good last time I got some. In for a case.
Why the renaming? What does that mean for the Chardonnay formerly known as “Estate”? How should this work on CellarTracker?
Yay for IronHorse (formerly know as Unoaked) Chardonnay! No malolactic and no oak. This is an auto-buy for 2 cases. Didn’t even need a rat report for this one.
I did buy the Keller from a few weeks ago as an alternative but it has yet to arrive.
@TimW
/giphy fruity-unflappable-quiet
The Chardonnay formerly known as UnOaked? Auto-buy!
Well, frankly, ANY Iron Horse is an Auto-buy!
/giphy childlike-crafty-flesh
ETA: Don’t wait to buy, as this will probably sell out quickly!
Like @markdaspark said…don’t wait to buy this! I think it always sells out.
@TimW
/giphy buy now!
/giphy meek-independent-lizard
Perfect timing, I just finished the last bottle from a previous order.
/giphy hairy-quick-crime
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2022 Iron Horse Chardonnay - 19.44%
Cases are sold out? It’s not even 6am PST!!
@wnance But was it before 6am PDT?
@klezman Yes!! (lol)
Cases gone already. Have to suffer only buying 6
Cases sold out. Just after 8:00 on Easy Coast. Damn.
Thank you, fellow Casemates for buying all the bulk so I can quit hovering over the button!!
Well it looks like this popular wine doesn’t need much of a review, but here goes!
Happily received the notification this week that we would be receiving a Lab Rat wine in the mail. We received the Iron Horse Chardonnay and the timing worked out perfectly as we already had a dinner with friends on the calendar. Admittedly, as the daughter of a mother who only drinks old school, buttery, oaky chardonnays - it’s not my favorite varietal but we approached it with an open mind.
First sips had a bit of a zing to them. The minerality definitely came through. After letting the wine mellow in the glass briefly this zippiness dissipated. You then find essence of green apple and a light sweetness. The wine is classified as medium bodied but I think it leans more to the light side of medium.
We were enjoying a picnic dinner out at the lake and this wine was a perfect addition. It held up well to our Mediterranean dishes with enough body to hold up to a harissa salmon dish.
Our group of six, none typical Chardonnay drinkers, all agreed that this was a very enjoyable wine and one we would definitely purchase to have on hand at home.
All said, this was a lovely wine to drink on a warm fall evening while watching the sunset over the lake. Consider me a new believer in the goodness of a glass of Chardonnay! Well done Iron Horse! No surprise there. Thank you for the opportunity to review it. Cheers!!
Looks like it’s been restocked - reporting at 9:30 EDT.
@Kraxberger And…… gone again!
Yikes, gone twice before 9am Central! Very sad to miss this one.
If two cases were available, it would be an autobuy at the $12/btl price. Just saying if someone at Casemates was to reach out…
In for a case
/giphy absolute-elated-brush
Oh my! I’m glad I pulled the trigger for a case before I turned out the light last night/this morning! This is one of our favorite Chardonnays! It’s funny how our tastes change and develop. We now prefer unoaked. Thank you, Joy and WD for this wonderful offer!
Check the “summer hold” page for more cases… Oh wait, never mind , lol
I would also buy a case if someone were to reallocate the sixes to twelves…
/giphy refreshing-unexpected-jackrabbit
Guys! Even the six banger is a steal! Go for it! You won’t be disappointed! It’s Iron Horse!
Here’s my beef. The site is called Casemates and its original intention was to get people to buy a case or more to share with others. Cases sold out overnight and I am 100 percent certain more cases could have been made available based on the sales but we’re not. I suspect it’s the profit margin but doesn’t this go against the very essence of the business model sold to many of us old timers after wine woot? Rant over
@losthighwayz nah, we moved a bunch of cases over. this is a friday deal. friday is usually limited quantities. just a few 6 ers left.