2018 Saxon Brown Chardonnay Sangiacomo Green Acres Hill Carneros 750 ml

This is a single-vineyard Chardonnay from a producer so close to our heart.

We fell in love with Saxon Brown at Tra Vigne in St. Helena, a spot that was indispensable to Napa Valley. In the early 2000s, the restaurant was a scene, the floor humming with excitement. You’d see the late Robert Mondavi and Margrit Mondavi, Michel Rolland, even stars like Ray Manzarek from The Doors—and that would be a weeknight. 

The wine director there had a keen eye for producers of consequence, and he kept Saxon Brown front and center. So when we tasted his coveted 2018 Sangiacomo Green Acres Hill—still so electric, so alive—we got a shot of adrenaline (not to mention nostalgia), and had to lock down the perfectly cellared wine for Wine Access members.

From Frank Family to Chappellet and Newton, the client roster for Carneros’ Sangiacomo Vineyards is studded with incredible wineries—most of whom sell their Chardonnay for $50 and up. In fact, the Sangiacomo family provided the first Carneros grapes for the Rombauer family, which has since become a juggernaut. 

Green Acres Hill is the most coveted block of the vineyard, originally planted in 1969. It’s perched on a knoll overlooking Fowler Creek and planted to the venerable Old Wente clone, whose small berries give intensely flavored fruit. Those phenomenal grapes shine in this wine, which is showing at its peak right now. Drink up and enjoy!