Estate Chardonnay (2022)

About this wine

Groth’s 2022 Estate Chardonnay comes from the family’s Hillview Vineyard in Napa Valley, a site shaped by cooling air from San Pablo Bay that helps keep the wine lively and fresh. The fruit is 100% Chardonnay, with a mix of whole cluster and destemmed pressing that gives it both a smooth texture and a little extra aromatic depth. In the glass, it opens with Green Apple, Cantaloupe, Orange Blossom, and Baking Spice, then moves into a generous palate of Grilled Peach, Yellow Plum, Orange Zest, and Brioche. It feels full and rounded without turning heavy, with bright citrus keeping the richer stone fruit in focus. Groth originally bought this property in 1982 for Merlot, then discovered it was especially well suited to Chardonnay, which gives this bottle a nice sense of Napa ingenuity and evolution.

About the grape

Chardonnay originated in Burgundy, France where centuries of selection produced a grape prized for its ability to reflect site, and it later spread worldwide through clonal selection and mass plantings. At Groth the variety is grown on the sustainably farmed Hillview Vineyard in Napa Valley, where the cooling influence of San Pablo Bay and the site soils led the family to replant 24 acres to Chardonnay and raise fruit with bright acidity and a mineral edge. In the 2022 Estate bottling much of the fruit was whole cluster pressed while about twenty percent was destemmed before pressing to add structure, then the juice was barrel fermented in French oak with fourteen percent new barrels and aged sur lie for eight months to build texture and integration. These choices show how the vineyard traits and traditional Burgundian techniques are combined in the cellar to emphasize Chardonnay s site expression and backbone rather than just oak driven flavors.

Quick facts

• 🍇 This Chardonnay is made entirely from Groth’s Hillview Estate, a 44‑acre parcel the family acquired in 1982, so every bottle is 100% estate fruit from a single family vineyard.
• 🌿 Hillview was originally purchased for red grapes, yet the cool pockets of the site proved so good for white fruit that Groth now highlights Chardonnay from those exact blocks.
• 📣 Groth launched the 2022 Estate Chardonnay as part of a 2023 initiative to spotlight expressive white wines from their estate vineyards, marking a visible shift toward estate‑driven white releases.
• 🫧 Winemaking for this vintage uses long, cool fermentations and a mix of older and newer oak barrels to build layered fruit and texture without heavy overt oak character.
• ♻️ The 2022 Estate Chardonnay is produced from 100% sustainably farmed fruit, reflecting Groth’s long‑term estate stewardship rather than purchased or blended off‑site grapes.

Palate profile

Producer

Groth Vineyards & Winery, established in 1981 by Dennis and Judy Groth, is a family-owned winery located in Oakville, California, USA. In 1985, their Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon became the first California wine to receive a 100-point score from Robert Parker, solidifying their reputation for excellence. The winery is renowned for its commitment to sustainable farming practices and its distinctive mission-style architecture. Today, under the leadership of their daughter, Suzanne Groth, the winery continues to produce critically acclaimed wines, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay.