Save The Date: 2018 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay

Email just came out:

The 2020 Rivers-Marie Spring Chardonnay Offer will go live on Tuesday, February 18th at 9:00 AM PST. As in the past, this release is via email only. At the time the release opens, you will receive an email with a link to the offer and your log-in credentials.


The offer:

2018 Rivers-Marie Sonoma Coast Chardonnay – $30/btl

2018 Rivers-Marie Bearwallow Vineyard Chardonnay – $50/btl

2018 Rivers-Marie Joy Road Vineyard Chardonnay – $50/btl

2018 Rivers-Marie Purrington Rued Vineyard Chardonnay – $60/btl

2018 Rivers-Marie Platt Vineyard Chardonnay – $60/btl

2018 Rivers-Marie B. Thieriot Vineyard Chardonnay-- $60/btl


I bought Pinot and Cab last year, any standouts here?

I’ve had the B. Theriot and the Bearwallow (the 2016 vintage) and they were both superb. I’m going to swallow hard (after all the binge of early 2020 buying) and get some more.

I have only had the Sonoma Coast, the Bearwallow and the Thieriot. All wonderful.
The Theriot shows a little richer for me, with a slight lean towards tropical fruit, with Bearwallow showing more acidity and freshness to the profile.
The Sonoma Coast is high quality and tastes well above the price of admission.

I enjoyed the 2017 Purrington Rued.

Copied from CT:

2/5/2020 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 93 Points
Drinking nicely. Full bodied apricot, honeysuckle, lemon curd. Secondary flavor of honey and cream. Nice acidity and finish, with a slight minerality.

Are any of these particularly buttery? I see butter mentioned in the AG tasting notes of the ‘17 SC and Platt, but not in TRB’s tasting notes. I recently had a 2015 Alpha Omega Chardonnay and I couldn’t stand the buttered popcorn taste.

I never get that from these wines.

Logistical question for Will or someone. Will these be minimum 4 bottle order like the Pinot? I have a four pack of Pinot ordered last month and would like to add a couple of chards for a tidy 6 pack, but that may not be permissible. The wines look awesome but not sure if the budget can handle any more than a couple.

Same question here.

I thought that they said the Chards would ship with the Pinots in the offer letter.

All should be excellent based on past tastings I have had and the promise of the '18 vineyard. I’ve not encountered butter in the RM Chards, just beautifully balanced fruit with food friendly acidity. It’s not as food friendly as a white burg, but it’s very food friendly for California IMO.

They typically do but there has been a minimum order in recent vintages. I guess the question is, since they are shipping together, already-purchased PN applies to the minimum.

These are great wines, although I think the gap between the SC and the single vineyards may be wider than with the Pinots. The Theriot is a special wine.

Is the Sonoma Coast typically a blend of the barrels from all the single vineyards that didn’t quite make the cut?

I’d also like to know the answer.

Tasting notes and scores appear to be up:

These wines are safe from my wife’s edict to ‘cut back.’

She is a Rivers Marie lover…which makes us sympatico.

Try one of each if you haven’t had them before!

I’m in for 9 bottles. This offer is a no brainer for me.

In for a mixed order of 10 bottles.

How long do these need to lay sideways before we should be drinking them?

Four-bottle minimum still in place, it seems, regardless of PN purchases.

Oh, well. These are very fairly priced wines for the quality and they of course will have no trouble selling out with these minimums in place.

C’est la vie.

From a pure logistics standpoint, that might be the easiest online order I’ve ever made. After selecting the wines I wanted, there was literally one more click to complete the order (assuming you didn’t need to change your address or CC info).

Kind of frightening how easy it is to spend that kind of money!

You got that right, Chris. It was WAY to easy to spend my money.