2013 Castrucci Wines Chardonnay Estate Napa Valley 750 ml

Steve Matthiasson: Winemaker of the Year … On Speed-Dial

On January 5, 2014, Steve Matthiasson was named the San Francisco Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year. The Chronicle wrote: “If one person stands to rewrite the trajectory of California wine — in Napa’s luxurious heart, no less — it is Steve Matthiasson.”

Up and down the Silverado Trail, the same question was posed.  What took the Chronicle so long?

Matthiasson has long been one of the most revered viticultural consultants in Napa Valley, with a star-studded client list that includes Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Araujo, Spottswoode, and Hall — a resumé much more in tune with those of Philippe Melka (Dana Estate, Bryant Family, and Hundred Acre) and Michel Rolland (Harlan, Bond, and Dalle Valle).  But if Steve is best known for his clients’ 95- to 100-point Cabernet Sauvignons, his pride and joy are the Chardonnays he crafts with his wife Jill off the cold, rugged soils at the southern edge of Napa Valley.

While Peter Michael, David Ramey, Steve Kistler, Luc Morlet, and Mark Aubert are the most prominent torchbearers on the Sonoma Coast and Russian River, Matthiasson’s Linda Vista and Castrucci Vineyard Chardonnays stand toe-to-toe with Sonoma’s Gang of Five — particularly in the minds and palates of the most revered sommeliers on both coasts.

We were introduced to Steve by Matt Licklider, co-proprietor of LIOCO. Ever since that first sniff and sip of Matthiasson’s Linda Vista and Castrucci Chardonnays, we’ve kept Steve’s number on speed-dial. Every couple of months, we lobbed in a call. As always, the Winemaker of the Year was solicitous, charming, and polite — albeit resolute. “Sorry, I don’t have a drop to spare,” we were told — no surprise given Matthiasson Chardonnay placements at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry and Jean-Georges on Central Park West, where an ocean of Chardonnay is poured to well-heeled New Yorkers at $16/glass. “But don’t give up,” Steve added. “Keep calling. I promise I’ll find something for you down the road.”

The meticulously farmed Castrucci Vineyard is situated in Napa’s southeastern corner, overlooking San Pablo Bay in plain view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Perched on a hillside comprised of fractured rock, the site is shrouded on summer mornings by morning fog, before the sun busts through, ushered up the valley by a stiff maritime breeze. It’s that combination of low-yielding soils, sunny afternoons, and cool western exposure that so enchants Matthiasson, making for one of the most stunning Chardonnays of the superb 2014 vintage.

If you’re planning a fall trip to the Big Apple or the Silverado Trail, be sure to book your tables at Jean-Georges and The French Laundry now. Tell the somms to have a bottle of the most exquisitely balanced, Burgundian-styled Napa Valley Chardonnays on ice — crafted by the inimitable Steve Matthiasson. Dinner for two won’t set you back a nickel more than $500.

Alternatively, pick up a case of Matthiasson’s luscious 92-point single-vineyard Chardonnay off Castrucci Vineyard for just $22/bottle. You make the call.