The 2020 Chardonnay Goldberg Variations Hyde Vineyard, from Wente vines planted in 1979, is lovely at this stage with aromas of baked apples, lemon cream, hay, beeswax, integrated baking spices with streaks of matchstick. Light-bodied and focused yet satiny and layered, it's youthfully coiled and has the potential to blossom over many years in the cellar. It was aged for 16 months in 75% new French oak, and 135 cases were made.

The 2020 Chardonnay Goldberg Variations Hyde Vineyard needs a little coaxing to unlock notes of fresh grapefruit, green mango, and lemon meringue pie with hints of lime leaves, peach blossoms, and coriander seed. The medium-bodied palate has fantastic balance and vivacity, delivering intense citrus and tropical fruit flavors with a lively line of freshness and a long, steely finish. Paul Lato started working with Hyde Vineyard from 2019.

95+ The 2020 Chardonnay Goldberg Variations No. 3 Hyde Vineyard comes from a great site in Carneros, in the southern part of the Napa Valley. It has a pure, clean, classy nose of ripe melon and honeyed apples as well as notes of toasted bread and white flowers. It's not quite as complex as some of the other releases here yet is incredibly pure, balanced, and medium-bodied on the palate, with everything in the right place. It has the balance and freshness to benefit from a year or two in bottle and should have 7-8 years, if not a decade, of prime drinking.