2014 AXR Chardonnay Napa Valley 750 ml

One of the Best Napa Valley Chardonnays of Today

From the first sip, this opulent, pale-gold AXR release instantly registered in my mind as one the best Napa Valley Chardonnays being made today. Its creator is Jean Hoefliger, the Swiss-born winemaker who has partnered with world-famous oenologist Michel Rolland on a slate of acclaimed projects, including Alpha Omega and now AXR. Fans of Hoefliger’s Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay — which Robert Parker has compared to Cote d’Or white Burgundy — know that he has a singular talent for eking out the essence of a site. Never has that been more evident than with this 2014 Chardonnay off the loamy soils of Toyon Farm Vineyard, in the heart of Carneros, bordering the legendary Hyde Vineyard. Pinning on 94 points, Parker called this effort “stunning,” displaying “beautiful fruit purity that reminds me of some of the great Domaine Niellon premier cru Chassagne-Montrachets of the mid-1980s.” You’d be lucky to find one such wine for $80. That makes this AXR — almost impossible to find off the mailing-list — a bombshell value at $34.99 per bottle.

For months, I’ve been tasting Michel Rolland and Jean Hoefliger’s Napa wines and wheedling out allocations. This rich, magnificent Chardonnay is the start of the AXR lineup until the 2014 Cabernet is offered in April. The aromas are piercing: pineapple, fig, and golden delicious apple, with a hint of vanilla cream and cashew, lightly touched with French oak. Weighty, thick, and dense on the attack, showing a fine, fresh acid backbone, and a finish as long as it is opulent. Those who can manage to wait will find this fantastic young Chardonnay only improving with age through to 2022.

A globe-hopping talent, Hoefliger got his vinicultural degree in Switzerland, did formative stints in Bordeaux at Château Carbonnieux and Château Lynch-Bages under Jean-Michel Cazes, and consulted as winemaker as far afield as Meerlust in South Africa. Yet if you ask him his favorite place to make wine, he’ll tell you it’s Napa Valley. The consistent climate and growing season, the diversity of soils, and a culture that encourages creativity have provided him with a platform to turn out high-scoring Burgundian varieties of extraordinary precision and texture.

His love of Napa terroir led him to Toyon Farm Vineyard, tucked in the cool foothills of the Mayacamas mountains in southwest Napa. Here, immaculate rows of golden Chardonnay berries ripen slowly, drawing minerals out of the rich, volcanic tufa soils. Cooled by a combination of the afternoon breezes off San Pablo Bay and a thick cloak of morning fog, by harvest time grapes are endowed with both richness and a crisp, electric acidity. A candidate for best value buy of the vintage, this is a homerun effort from one of the region’s most accomplished winemakers.

Matt Deller MW
Master of Wine