This is the inaugural vintage of this new flagship Chardonnay for The Hess Collection. The 2015 Chardonnay The Lioness Estate is 100% barrel-fermented in French oak, employing 50% new oak. It opens with intense grapefruit, white peach and pineapple notes with suggestions of nutmeg, honeyed toast and orange blossoms plus a hint of beeswax. Full-bodied, rich, satiny-textured and delivering tons of tropical and stone fruit flavors, it has lovely freshness to balance and great length. 464 cases were made. (Oct 2017)

This estate-grown wine is exuberantly lemony and floral on the nose while the palate boasts lush, concentrated flavors of honey, oak, vanilla and baked pear. Full bodied, it wears its oak well, allowing it to speak in tandem with the ripe fruit.