2013 Stomping Girl Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard Carneros Napa Valley 750 ml

One of the Most Heralded Sources of Chardonnay

Today’s offer is almost too good to be true—almost—but delivering the extraordinary is what we do here at Wine Access. Hyde Vineyard in Carneros is one of the most heralded sources of Chardonnay in the New World. The waitlist to harvest just a few rows is miles long, with most of the production reserved for heavy hitters like Kistler, Aubert, and Ramey. It’s rare to find a bottle of Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay for under-$50, but to find one for under-$20? Unheard of, except for today. The 2013 Stomping Girl Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard is a rare outlier, bearing the unmistakable signature of the vineyard—intense, crisp, mineral—without the typical Hyde price tag. Showing rich layers of caramel, apple, quince, and white florals, this vibrant stunner is a total coup. Released at $40, we have 500 bottles up for grabs at $17.99 on nine or more. Shipping included on 8.  

Founded in 1979, famed Hyde Vineyards is set on gently rolling hills on the Napa side of chilly Carneros. The vineyard blueprint is ingenious, offering each Chardonnay plant optimal southeastern exposure. The soils are poor—meaning vines have to first snake through three feet deep to reach an impenetrable layer of clay subsoil, where they must burrow harder and deeper for nutrients. The vineyard work here is rigorous—each cluster carefully aerated on the vine, providing for succulent, golden berries of luscious juiciness and fine acid backbone.

In most cases, wineries have to wait years to get their hands on Hyde’s prized fruit—that is, if they can get it at all—but it just so happened that the proprietors of Stomping Girl Wines, had an in. One day, while walking the vines of Beresini Vineyard with owner Steve Beresini, the proprietors asked him if he knew of a place to find great Chardonnay. Steve, as it turned out, had been friends with the great Larry Hyde since high school. Having seen the great care that they took in making Pinot Noir from his vines, Beresini knew they were perfect candidates for Hyde fruit. Beresini made one call, and as they say, the rest was history.

The 2013 Stomping Girl Chardonnay was hand-harvested from Hyde Vineyard under the cover of darkness to maintain maximum freshness in the grapes. Aged in French oak barrels for 11 months, the wine is at once creamy and richly textured while vibrant and crisp. Drinking perfectly right now, after five years in bottle, we couldn’t recommend this wine any more highly. Do yourself a favor and buy it by the case.

Jonathan Cristaldi
Editor-in-Chief, Wine Access