2023 Courtney Benham Chardonnay Reserve Napa Valley 750 ml

Courtney Benham’s Reserve Napa Chardonnay is a wine that Courtney and 100-point winemaker Keith Emerson only produce when they get access to top-tier Napa grapes. The blockbuster 2023 edition is only the fourth time they’ve produced it in the last decade. 

Sourced from a beautiful, breezy vineyard in southern Napa—in a vintage that has all-time great potential—this wine was treated to a luxurious year of aging in 40% new oak. It’s bold and rich, with plenty of ripe pears, toasted almonds, clove, and pineapple curd flavors, all balanced by a beautiful freshness. 

Courtney Benham is an industry veteran who’s exceptionally picky when it comes to wine with his name on the label. That’s especially true for his Reserve Chardonnay.

The 2023 edition comes from Napa’s cool-climate Oak Knoll AVA, which yields Chardonnay renowned for its intensity and crisp acidity—perhaps no appellation within the Valley is rising faster for the grape in the estimation of local winemakers. Cooled by San Pablo Bay ripened by the California sun, the grapes are pulled towards freshness and ripeness at the same time, while fog protects the vines from excessive heat.

Raised on a family farm in Bakersfield, Benham learned the wine business from his father. Now, his connections throughout California—forged through his long career producing top-rated wines—means that he gets access to fantastic grapes for a reasonable price. 

This is a region where a long growing season created by a cooler climate and loamy, gravelly soils encourage Chardonnay to develop richness and density, and Benham's 2023 Reserve shows off that style brilliantly.