The 2016 Chardonnay Reserve improved over several days and is just beginning to hint at more to come with bottle age. The nose offers warm citrus and floral perfume with a deep core of orchard fruits. The palate is silky and expansive, with a streak of mineral-like undertones, a flush of juicy acidity and long, layered finish. It deserves more time in bottle. 231 cases were made.

The 2015 Chardonnay Reserve begins with pleasant touches of gunflint and toast, opening out to gregarious orange blossoms, baked apples and quince with hints of mushroom paste, roasted almonds and cheese rind. The palate is medium to full-bodied and explodes with savory fruits, still with just a touch of that gunflint reductiveness. It has a satiny texture and seamlessly woven freshness, finishing very long, layered and with incredible energy in the mouth. This needs more time in bottle and I expect it will get better over time.

Only slightly darker in color than the Estate Chardonnay, the 2010 Chardonnay Reserve is a barrel selection from the standard Santa Cruz Mountain Chardonnay that's moved to stainless steel barrels, gets a single lees stirring, and then is left alone for 12 months before being bottled. It offers rocking notes of ripe orchard fruits, honeysuckle, orange blossom and vanilla cream on the nose. These carry to a medium to full-boded Chardonnay that has terrific concentration, a layered, silky and vibrant texture and a big finish. Still youthful and vibrant, if you every wanted to push the ageability of California Chardonnay, this would the one to do it with. Enjoy this beauty anytime over the coming two decades.

The 2008 Chardonnay Reserve boasts incredible depth and power. Today it comes across as much more reticent than the straight 2009 bottling. The characteristic Mount Eden flavors are there. Bright fruit and floral notes, along with the clean veins of minerality, help give the wine its underlying tension and minerality. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2028. Mount Eden is one of the United States’ great heritage estates. The Chardonnays and Pinots have a track record for aging spectacularly well. As outstanding as the Chardonnays and Pinots can be, I was also pretty surprised by the quality of the Cabernet Sauvignons. Winemaker and proprietor Jeffrey Patterson favors indigenous fermentations for all his wines, which are also bottled with no fining or filtration. The top Chardonnay bottling, the Estate, spends a year in barrel and six months in steel, as do so many of the top whites in Burgundy these days. The Pinots are made with anywhere from 20-50% stem inclusion, which can make the wines hard to understand when young. If I am looking for an aged bottle of California Chardonnay or Pinot, Mount Eden is always at or near the top of my list. In this section, I have listed all of the wines from Domaine Eden, Mount Eden’s second label first, followed by the wines of Mount Eden. Tel (888) 865-9463; info@mounteden.com

The Mount Eden 2007 Chardonnay Reserve is a strikingly beautiful, textured wine endowed with layers of rich fruit. It comes across as surprisingly tight and mineral-driven. The purity and finesse here are simply dazzling. The Reserve is fermented and aged in barrel, then goes back into tank for another 10 months until all of the lees have been absorbed. It is a fabulous Chardonnay loaded with personality and sheer class. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2027. Mount Eden is a reference point winery, especially known for fine, ageworthy Chardonnays. I tasted a wide range of wines with Owner and Winemaker Jeffrey Patterson, one of the pioneers of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Mount Eden has a new, entry-level series called Domaine Eden, which is made partially from grapes sourced from a hillside property in Saratoga that once belonged to Cinnabar and that had originally been planted with Mount Eden clones. Ideally the Mount Eden wines need to be opened well in advance, as they can be a bit awkward when young. Tel (888) 865-9463; info@mounteden.com