2021 Ladera Pillow Rd. Chardonnay estate spotlight
The market on this bottle
U.S. shop listings for the 2021, before sales tax. Wine-Searcher shows one 2021 shop price, $87.44. This bottle is $40. Checked 2026-10-06.
Russian River Valley Chardonnay
2021 Ladera Pillow Rd. Vineyard Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, USA
Russian River Chardonnay from Pillow Road, on Goldrich sand and morning fog.
Pat and Anne Stotesbery have guided Ladera since 1996, and Pillow Road has been theirs since 2006. This 2021 Chardonnay grows in the Sebastopol Hills of the Russian River Valley, on Goldrich sandy loam, about ten miles from the Pacific, with morning fog and Pinot planted beside it. The bottle is $40.
Fog in the morning, Goldrich sand under the vines
Pillow Road sits in the Sebastopol Hills. Morning fog comes in off the Pacific, about ten miles away. Chardonnay grows beside Pinot on Goldrich sandy loam. Jade Barrett has been the winemaker since 2012.
The glass tastes of stone fruit, pear, and citrus, a creamy mid-palate, and a mineral finish. This is Russian River fruit. If you want a Chardonnay that still tastes like the coast it comes from, why drink an inland impression of one?
The family
Pat and Anne Stotesbery have guided Ladera since 1996.
The vineyard
Pillow Road has been theirs since 2006, in the Sebastopol Hills of the Russian River Valley.
The site
About ten miles from the Pacific, morning fog, Chardonnay planted beside Pinot.
The soil
Goldrich sandy loam, and Jade Barrett has made the wines since 2012.
Stone fruit, pear, and a mineral line
Pat and Anne have had Pillow Road since 2006. Jade Barrett has made the wines since 2012. The soil is Goldrich sandy loam in the Sebastopol Hills, inside the Russian River Valley.
Stone fruit, pear, and citrus lead. A creamy mid-palate follows, and the finish is mineral.
Pear, citrus, cream, and mineral
Stone fruit and pear, then citrus, a creamy mid-palate, and a mineral finish. Fog, Goldrich sand, and the ten miles to the Pacific are why it tastes like that.
Pour the 2021 at $40. Twelve bottles ship free in the lower 48. Hawaii and Alaska are quoted on their own.
Stone fruit and pear.
Citrus and a creamy mid-palate.
Mineral.
Coast fog on Goldrich sand
Pillow Road is close enough to the Pacific for morning fog, and the Chardonnay grows beside Pinot.
The vineyard is in the Sebastopol Hills of the Russian River Valley, on Goldrich sandy loam, about ten miles from the ocean.
Pat and Anne Stotesbery have guided Ladera since 1996, and Pillow Road has been theirs since 2006.
Jade Barrett has been winemaker since 2012. The glass shows stone fruit, pear, and citrus, a creamy middle, and a mineral finish.
Stotesbery, then Pillow Road, then Barrett
A family vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills, about ten miles from the Pacific.
Pat and Anne Stotesbery have guided Ladera since 1996.
Pillow Road has been theirs since 2006. Morning fog reaches it from the Pacific, and Chardonnay grows beside Pinot on Goldrich sandy loam.
Jade Barrett has been the winemaker since 2012, working that Russian River fruit into stone fruit, pear, citrus, a creamy middle, and a mineral finish.
Sole in brown butter, fennel beside it
Pear, citrus, and a creamy middle want sole meuniere, and the mineral finish wants roasted fennel.
Two plates. Sole meuniere. Roasted fennel. Both can take pear, citrus, and that mineral line.
Serve this white cool. It does not need a decant.
Sole meuniere
Flour-dredged sole browned in butter, finished with lemon and parsley.
Why it works: Brown butter and lemon meet the creamy middle and the citrus, and the fish stays light enough for the mineral finish.
View Recipe for Sole meuniere (opens in a new tab)Roasted fennel
Fennel wedges roasted with olive oil and balsamic until the edges caramelize.
Why it works: Sweet roasted fennel echoes the pear and leaves the mineral finish room to show.
View Recipe for Roasted fennel (opens in a new tab)Pour the Pillow Road Chardonnay
Russian River Chardonnay from Pillow Road, about ten miles from the Pacific, at $40.
Open the 2021 Pillow Road Chardonnay with sole meuniere.
