2018 AERENA Chardonnay Sonoma County 750 ml

ÆRENA’s stunning 2018 Chardonnay is a liquid snapshot of Sonoma terroir, sculpted into a bright, ready-to-drink, golden elixir by 100-point winemaking maven Aaron Pott. Sourced from famed Sonoma sites in the Russian River Valley and on Sonoma Mountain, Pott’s unique winemaking script transformed racy, high-acid grapes into a perfect, medium-bodied Chardonnay that is classic California. 

This value bottling easily holds its own alongside its expensive Sonoma peers like Paul Hobbs, Ramey, and Patz & Hall. Fermented in one-third new French oak, which gives the wine its slightly creamy texture, it bursts with lifted yellow apple, lemon, baking spices, and crushed blue stone notes give way to a sumptuous core of ripe fruit, silken textures, and mouthwatering acidity balanced by a crisp, mineral finish. 

We were first introduced to the 2018 ÆRENA Chardonnay at the ÆRENA gallery in downtown Napa while standing in front of Kate Salenfriend’s “Copper Winter” oil on canvas with copper leafing—easily the most beautiful painting of a vine we’ve ever seen. The vivid yellow leaves, winter shades of teal, and bright reflective copper vines are—forgive us—nearly dead ringer metaphors for what’s happening the wine.

The artists, in this case, are ÆRENA teammates Kyle Mizuno and Pott, who has trained under Michel Rolland and John Kongsgaard, and was named Food & Wine “Winemaker of the Year.” Pott has channeled the terroir of Napa and Bordeaux, producing knockout wines for Newton, Blackbird, Quintessa, and Château La Tour Figeac.

After harvest, Pott and Mizuno use just 33% new oak and a French technique known as bâttonage to tame the Chardonnay grapes from Sonoma Mountain and the Russian River Valley into an easy-drinking, golden wine. Bâttonage is the process of regularly stirring the wine, which gives the wine a soft texture that makes it dangerously easy to drink now.

As of 2003, Blackbird Vineyards and ÆRENA Wines fall under founder Michael Polenske’s Bespoke Collection, which is a charitable organization focused on arts, education, healthcare, youth services, and community outreach efforts. History buffs will relish in the notion that the name for ÆRENA was inspired by Teddy Roosevelt’s “Citizenship in a Republic” speech delivered at the Sorbonne in 1910. Its most-famous excerpt is “Man in the Arena:”

“It is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” 

In the spirit of Roosevelt’s words, ÆRENA aims to celebrated “the art of wine and the everyday heroes who are mastering their craft,” and we think you’ll find a master’s craft in this stunning and artistic Chardonnay.