2024 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars "Karia" Napa Valley Chardonnay

Sourced from a diverse set of Napa Valley sites—52% from Atlas Peak (including the Antica Estate), 24% from Carneros, 18% from Coombsville (notably Arcadia, formerly owned by Warren Winiarski), and the balance from the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley—this Chardonnay reflects a deliberate stylistic shift in recent vintages. Produced with 92% barrel fermentation in French oak (39% new, the balance older barrels) and 8% fermented in stainless steel, then aged on the lees for eight months, the wine shows a clear recalibration in its complexity, generosity, and ageability. The aromas are complex and lifted, offering lemon and grapefruit zest with a subtle flinty, wet-rock minerality. On the palate, the fruit is precise, pure and focused, opening into a creamy core of orchard fruit before finishing with exceptional definition, saline-acid tension and verve. Bright, energetic, and so food-friendly. (JC)