2014 Jigar Wines Chardonnay Russian River Valley Sonoma County 750 ml

Rich, Opulent, Russian River Home Run

The 2014 Jigar Chardonnay Russian River Valley is a home run for lovers of bold, buttery Chardonnay with tons of ripe citrus and tropical fruit. This wine wears its California pride on its sleeve. Although labeled as Russian River, 100 percent of the fruit is grown in the Goldridge sandy loam of the prestigious Peters Vineyard, whose southeastern exposure and proximity to the Pacific yields gorgeously balanced fruit. From one of the North Coast’s top vintages in recent memory, this is the kind of rich, opulent, and lively Chardonnay that has won Russian River Valley legions of devotees over the years — and at $19.99 for a single-vineyard Russian River Chardonnay, a flat-out brilliant bargain. We recommend a case.

We could have met with Jigar Patel at his tasting room in downtown Forestville, but we decided to field-test his wines at Backyard, the farm-to-fork restaurant run by a married couple with Michelin stars — and Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc — on their resumes. So we left the tasting room and jaywalked across Front Street to get lunch, a bottle of Jigar’s Russian River Chardonnay in hand.

We took a table on the front patio at Backyard feeling like we were in a curated virtual reality version of the Sonoma experience: Quaint outdoor patio on a gorgeous day, check. Hyper-local cuisine cooked by world-class chefs, check. And a super-juicy Russian River Chardonnay that seemed to make the sun seem to shine a little brighter, check. After we ordered, Jigar told us his story.

Jigar Patel’s winery started as a one-man show that compensated for lack of experience with a surfeit of enthusiasm. Over the years, Jigar’s passion and practice begat something that his peers noticed: bona fide expertise and competence. After the 2014 vintage was bottled, a winemaker friend talked Jigar into submitting his wines to Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. He grabbed two of his single-vineyard Pinots and shipped them off. Eventually, the results came back: The first two wines Jigar ever submitted to The Wine Advocate had earned 92 and 94 points.

That 94-point wine came from the Peters Vineyard, the same source of 100% of the fruit in Jigar’s 2014 Russian River Chardonnay — starting with the 2016 vintage, the Peters Vineyard Chardonnay will be labeled as a single-vineyard wine. Specified on the label or not, the Peters Vineyard fruit shines through in the Russian River Chardonnay, which is ripe and opulent, with a beautiful energetic lift from the maritime influence of the Pacific, which is only 10 miles away. 25% new oak provides beautiful richness, vanilla, and spice.  

We could have sat on the patio, swirling and sipping all day — but then Backyard’s famous fried chicken, the rock cod with butter-poached prawns, and our pot pie all hit the table and brought us back to the present. Jigar’s Russian River Chardonnay was superb with everything we ordered, but had proven itself long before our lunch materialized. For fans of rich, buttery, and balanced Russian River Chardonnay looking for an open-anytime bottle to go with dinner, or just to be shared among friends, this is your wine. Order a case — or two — and open without hesitation.

Matt Deller MW

Master of Wine