Varner, Spring Ridge Vineyard Amphitheater Block Chardonnay, California
Varner · California › United States of America
Critics Average score from professional wine critics and publications.
91
/100
Reviews
20
professional
Vintages
No vintages
NV
Community Reviews
2525
Reviews
90.9
Avg Score
94
Highest
Taster #5533
· Nov 23, 2023
91/100
Similar notes as our previous tastings. Apricots and citrus with floral and nutty notes in the nose. Citrus fruit and apples in the flavor. Nice balance and acidity, medium bodied, and a medium length finish.
2013 vintage
Taster #5533
· Oct 29, 2023
91/100
Similar notes as our previous tasting. Apricots, citrus, nuts and spice with floral hints in the nose, Citrus fruit and apples in the flavor. Nice acidity, medium bodied, and a medium to long finish.
2013 vintage
Taster #4762
· Sep 1, 2023
Lovely bottle. Wonderful California Chardonnay that has energy to spare and a fine equipoise between fruit and structure with judicious oak. Wonderful with poached halibut. Wish I had more.
2013 vintage
Taster #5533
· Apr 19, 2023
92/100
Better than our last tasting in 2021, this bottle being richer with more structure. Apricots, citrus, nuts and spice with floral hints in the nose, Citrus fruit and apples in the flavor. Nice acidity, medium bodied, and a medium to long finish.
2013 vintage
Taster #0869
· Nov 5, 2022
88/100
I have enjoyed this in the past but not this time. There is a distinct waxy mouthfeel. The nose is muted. Flavor of peach, candied lemon, some Kind of nut.
2013 vintage
Taster #4762
· Jun 30, 2022
Solid showing. These have held up well and were worth the reputation. Stony lemon curd, well-knit oak. Really pretty nose. Complete. Very good, really.
2013 vintage
Taster #5533
· Dec 14, 2021
90/100
Lighter example of Chardonnay, but still plenty of flavor, nicely balanced and a good pairing with Butternut Squash Soup. Medium length finish
2013 vintage
Taster #7403
· Feb 25, 2020
93/100
another outstanding chard from Varner
2013 vintage
Taster #5786
· Feb 23, 2020
92/100
Cult Wines (Jason's House) : A very nice, reasonably priced Chardonnay. The wine was singing in the glass with hints of flint and seashell assaulting the nose coupled with sweet oak, and honey lurking in the background. For my palate, this was Burgundian in style, with a nice balance between the fruit and acidity sharing a symbiotic relationship, both complimenting each other. On the palate, notes of crisp green apple, vanilla and a touch of pear, all balanced out by …
2013 vintage
Taster #3995
· Feb 22, 2020
93/100
"Cult Wines" (Jason's House) : I got a fair amount of oak on this initially, and then it blew off. You are then left with the spice and slight vanilla from the oak, along with lemon oil, tangerine, a touch of butterscotch, and a briny mineral quality that balances is out. I'm not familiar with this producer, but this bottle made me stand up and take notice.
2013 vintage
Taster #9438
· Feb 20, 2020
94/100
"Cult Wines" & a Few Others (Jason P's, St. Paul, MN) : Light gold plus color. Drank a glass over an hour plus. Very complex and mature nose with apple, tangerine, briny minerality, lanolin and great spices. The palate is dense and golden with great lift, tangerine, lemon, great brine, lanolin, rich but not heavy with mice length. I love the balance of fruit and spice. 93+ to 94pts.
2013 vintage
Taster #3365
· Feb 13, 2020
93/100
Notes of flint, smoke, herbs, lemon, and chamomile on the nose. Good acidity with flavors of citrus, orange zest, minerals, and lime on the palate. Nice finish. Excellent CA Chardonnay!
2013 vintage
Taster #0715
· Dec 5, 2019
92/100
Age has been kind to this. Lots of phenolic ripeness, but it doesn't get boozy or plodding and maintains nice acidic lift. Goes light tropical with pineapple notes, but is mostly grounded in meyer lemon, yellow apple, slightly bitter almond, wet rocks and smoke. While rich, this doesn't get bogged down in oakiness or big malo notes. It's a shame they lost the lease on the Santa Cruz Mtns. vineyards. I don't think this is at risk of falling apart, …
2013 vintage
Taster #9032
· Aug 28, 2017
90/100
A rich and honeyed Chardonnay that should be drunk now. Light gold in color, full in body, nose of beeswax and saline. Tastes of pear, gooseberry, and almond, with an oily finish. 13.5% alcohol. I loved the Bee Block and Neely's from this vintage, but this wine is in a different league (in a bad way) - it just seems flat.
2013 vintage
Taster #4278
· Dec 31, 2016
91/100
Similar to before with green apple, lemon, peach, and nectarine. Richer style with some crisp some mineral notes and nice finish.
2013 vintage
Taster #0448
· Sep 15, 2016
83/100
As DRDAN8 wrote in October of last year, this version of Varner Chardonnay does not measure up to the 2013 Bee Block and Neely Hollys Cuvee. I've had both those and I scored them a 97 and 93 respectively. The Amphitheater was monolithic and a tad harsh tasting, and hot. I tried this on two different occasions, one PnP and one with 2-3 hours of air...one chilled one room temp...there was no discernible difference no matter what I did. I …
2013 vintage
Taster #4278
· Dec 15, 2015
91/100
Green apple, lemon, peach , and nectarine. Very rich with a big presence of oak, not what I'm normally used to with Varner wines, certainly more than the Home or Bee Block for this vintage. Still crisp some mineral notes and nice finish.
2013 vintage
Taster #5362
· Oct 17, 2015
89/100
This is a quality CA Chardonnay but proved to be a slight letdown from the Bee Block and Neely Hollys cuvée. Both of those wines exhibited a great balance of ripe orchard fruit, ginger, honeysuckle, and acidity. The Amphitheater just felt a little lacking compared to those wines.
2013 vintage
Taster #0855
· Oct 5, 2015
94/100
Crisp and clean. Light but noticeable fruit balances great acid. Good finish. PDQ93+
2013 vintage
Taster #1125
· Sep 13, 2015
89/100
Opened the El Camino Vineyard along side the Amphitheater Block and the green fruit, citrus and minerality were similar in both, but the oak treatment on the Amphitheater Block was much heavier. To my tastes, I prefer the El Camino rendering much more. It's cleaner, crisper and truer to the fruit. That being said, both were quite nice, but the El Camino bottling, in my opinion, has a far, far better qpr. It kind of reminds me of white burgundy.
2013 vintage
Taster #8663
· Sep 7, 2015
93/100
Strange experience: there were moments when my tastebuds wondered if I was drinking anything at all, and yet it wasn't subtle or thin. I get what the smarter people say about it having a definitive structure. It's sort of what I've always hoped for when opening a California chardonnay. Very long finish. Had it with salmon, which was ideal.
2013 vintage
Taster #4094
· Aug 10, 2015
Probably the best young California white I can remember drinking. It unfurls in a way that only wines of the highest pedigree can do. The length drives home the quality of the experience on the palate in case you're left with any doubt. This bottling has a firmer mineral core than the other two bottlings in my opinion, and perhaps half a shade less flamboyant with the floral tones. My only question is in regard to how this wine will …
2013 vintage
Taster #6171
· Jul 20, 2015
I just don't know what to say. It's lean yet almost stuffed to the bursting point with power. The finish is at least 60 seconds long and still shows no signs of dissipating. To lay down. Extremely amazing. And this is on day two. Used a burgundy glass last night and that helped the wine much more than a regular small bowl glass.
2013 vintage
Taster #2546
· Jun 26, 2015
89/100
Light medium yellow color; lifted, tart lemon, reduction nose; tart lemon, mineral palate with near medium acidity; medium-plus finish (13.5% alcohol) 89+ points
2013 vintage
Taster #5752
· Mar 21, 2015
IPOB in SF 3/16 - Quick Impressions : Opens with limestone mineral, seashell and lemon zest, then pops on the palate with clove, more mineral and stone fruit. Rich depth. Excellent.
2013 vintage