2021 Library Collection Chardonnay Roberts Road Petaluma Gap

Robin Akhurst can buy any Chardonnay grapes he wants in California.

Before he worked with 100-point master Thomas Rivers Brown, he made wine at Chardonnay icon Domaine Leflaive. Today he’s the winemaking lead for a large collection of wineries like Clos Pegase and B.R. Cohn. The guy’s got the network, experience—and the checkbook—to have a high first-round draft pick for the best grapes in the state. 

For his 2021 Library Collection Roberts Road Chardonnay, Akhurst tapped the Sangiacomo family’s Roberts Road vineyard in Petaluma Gap, “Amongst the most prestigious that our family cultivates,” according to them—which is quite the statement from a family who also supplies Chappellet, Flowers, and Rombauer. 

Packed with decadent flavors of toasted pineapple and crème brûlée, this tiny, six-barrel cuvée absolutely drinks like a $60+ Chardonnay from the likes of Lewis, TOR, or Paul Hobbs. It’s one of the single most exciting Chardonnay values to cross our tasting table in the past year.

Robin Akhurst has one of the most impressive CVs we’ve seen. His winemaking career started with stages at Leflaive and Two Hands in the Barossa. A connection led him to a coveted position working under Thomas Rivers Brown, where he assisted in Schrader Cellars, Maybach and Rivers Marie. Today he’s the winemaking lead for Vintage Wine Estates, a position of huge responsibility.

But he still makes time for Library Collection, his own label. “These wines are a true labor of love, allowing me the freedom to shape the style and direction of the winemaking process,” Robin told us. And he had a great year to work with: Vinous’ Antonio Galloni called the 2021 Sonoma County Chardonnays “absolutely brilliant…It’s unquestionably a special vintage for Chardonnay.”

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Sweetness
• Acidity

• ABV 13.90%
• Enjoy right away
• Now – 2026
• % Chardonnay
• Serving temperature – 48°
• Cork