2014 Robert Keenan Winery Chardonnay Spring Mountain District 750 ml

Breakfast of Champions

It’s just a matter of taste. Some like their Chardonnay “buttery,” almost brioche-like, rich and soft. Some like more sinew and plenty of new-wood toast. But some of us long for the sturdy side of Chardonnay, the style found — almost uniquely — above the Napa Valley fog line where the days are hot, but the nights refreshingly cool. Up here, almost 2,000 feet above the valley floor at one of Napa’s most celebrated mountain addresses, Michael Keenan fashions a rich, firm, crisp Chardonnay — infused with Spring Mountain muscle.

The last time we’d seen Michael was in February at the iconic Lucques on Melrose in West Hollywood. He’d brought along his 2014 Estate Chardonnay, gently reminding us that the last time we’d offered his white to WineAccess members was the 2009 vintage. It showed beautifully in a lineup of whites we sampled, and particularly with Suzanne Goin’s Dover Sole, and we asked him to set aside at least 100 cases.

When, a week later, Wine & Spirits Magazine dropped a 93-point rating on Keenan’s 2014 Chardonnay, we made a note to check back in with Michael and shore up our allocation. That’s the note we reread the night before our visit, as we were making the rounds in Napa last month.

It was bright and early as we pulled into 3660 Spring Mountain Road; the last bunches of Chardonnay grapes were being plucked from the vines. Michael stood in the driveway next to a couple of ATVs. Moments later, we were speeding back down the narrow driveway. Leading the way, Michael cut a sharp left, weaving around some MacroBins loaded with grapes, and pulled up to a row of Chardonnay vines.

He snipped off one of the last clusters, and tossed it to us. It was beautiful, clean, and weighty. We plucked off several grapes and savored the beautiful morning and the fact that we were 1,700 feet up Spring Mountain, noshing on a breakfast of prized Chardonnay grapes — medium-sized berries, perfectly sweet and irresistibly juicy.

“We haven’t watered this vineyard in 15 years,” Michael boasted, “and we still have to thin leaves and drop fruit. And think about this,” Michael added, “in 2014, the Cabernet that came off our 17-year old vines, while just in the fermentation stages, was showing entirely new levels of flavors we’d never experienced — it was MIND-BOGGLING. And although 2014 was another drought year, for us, everything was perfect because of our aquifers. And if we thought the Cabs were showing complexity—,” Michael produced a bottle of the 2014 Chardonnay that he had brought along, “this was downright serpentine!”

Zaltos were passed out. Michael drew the cork, and poured. We swirled, sniffed, and drank. The wine’s energy and buoyancy immediately transported us back to Lucques on Melrose, and called to mind the bottle of Domaine Séguinot-Bordet Chablis 1er Cru “Fourchaume,” which Michael had ordered as a precursor to us tasting his barrel samples. We told Keenan that he’d produced Napa’s best answer to Premier Cru Chablis — his 2014 combined the mineral thread of the Bordet with the muscular backbone of mountain fruit.

“That’s our terroir,” he interjected. “We’re in this kind of ‘banana belt’ of Spring Mountain. Let me show you one more thing.”

It was back on the ATVs and through a redwood grove, when Michael brought us to a stop at a lookout point atop his Cabernet vineyard. Everything he’d been saying became clear. We could see the thick blanket of fog still hovering over St. Helena. The sun was spreading warmth on us — and all of Keenan’s vines — while a hundred yards above our heads, cooler wisps of air could be seen, filtering in above the tree tops from the Sonoma side.

The Keenan 2014 Spring Mountain Chardonnay is 100% estate-grown and barrel-fermented. Undergoing no malolactic fermentation, the wine remains bright and cheery. Medium lemon and flecked with emerald hues, the nose shows bright lemon-oil character, and positively bursts on the palate with mouthwatering lemon-curd and burnt lemon peel flavors. Lees-stirring adds dimension and a subtle creaminess, underscored by dazzling wet-rock minerality, and a subtle smoky/flinty character. Tart, laser-sharp acidity gives way to a lengthy mineral finish.

Rarely do we see this kind of finesse in a Chardonnay from Napa. Even with 93 points and high demand from Keenan’s wine club, our strong relationship with Michael means we have 600 bottles set aside for WineAccess members. Only $29/bottle while they last. Shipping included on 4.