Thomas Rivers Brown house spotlight
Thomas Rivers Brown, winemaker of this bottle, tasting Shibumi Knoll Chardonnay. Same hand as Corazon del Rio.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2023 Three Revelers Corazon Del Rio Vineyard Chardonnay Russian River Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $30.45 and the average is $30.45. Our slash is $30.00.
2023 Three Revelers Corazon Del Rio Vineyard Chardonnay
Wine Spectator's Napa Top Gun made this Corazon del Rio Chardonnay, six labels that complete one vineyard picture, a hundred-dollar bottle at thirty dollars.
Thomas Rivers Brown. Shibumi Knoll fruit from Corazon del Rio in the Russian River Valley. This Chardonnay will blow your mind. The live bottle is $30 against a $100 winery SRP.
Napa's Top Gun. A Russian River Chardonnay. Thirty dollars.
Wine Spectator put Thomas Rivers Brown on the cover and called him Napa's Top Gun. That is the hand in this glass. Corazon del Rio is a Shibumi Knoll vineyard in the Russian River Valley. The back label says produced and bottled by Shibumi Knoll Vineyards, Calistoga. Crafted by Thomas Rivers Brown. This Chardonnay will blow your mind.
James Laube's cover story named him among the winemakers who define California Cabernet. He also makes Chardonnay with the same site-first discipline. This 2023 is 100 percent Chardonnay from Corazon del Rio, 14.2 percent alcohol, 14 months in 20 percent new French oak.
The labels are a set of six. Lined up they complete one vineyard tapestry: vine, river, the three revelers. Same wine in every bottle. The picture is the extra gift.
The hand
Thomas Rivers Brown. Schrader, Rivers-Marie, Shibumi Knoll. Wine Spectator cover, November 15, 2018.
The wine
2023 Corazon Del Rio Vineyard Chardonnay. Russian River Valley. 14 months, 20% new French oak. 14.2% ABV.
The score
James Suckling 94 on the 2023 Corazon del Rio Chardonnay. Lemon, honeysuckle, wet stone, nervy acidity.
The table
Seared scallops or mushroom risotto. Serve 48 to 52 F. No long decant.
James Suckling 94 on this vineyard vintage
The 2023 Corazon del Rio Vineyard Chardonnay earned James Suckling 94, tasted February 2026. The magazine cover is the career proof. The score is the glass.
Lemon and wet stone. Then the nervy line.
Suckling's 2023 note is the tasting. Sliced lemon, honeysuckle, river stone, yellow apple. Full in the middle. Tight on the way out. A cool 2023 Russian River year, not a tropical California bomb.
A long, cool Sonoma year after the winter rivers. Chardonnay kept tension. This bottle drinks now and will hold.
Sliced lemon, honeysuckle, wet river stone, yellow apple.
Full-bodied with taut acidity. 14 months, 20% new French oak. 14.2% ABV.
Nervy, mineral, long. Serve 48 to 52 F. No long decant.
The same hand as Schrader. A quieter grape.
Shibumi Knoll hired Thomas Rivers Brown because he offered to make the wines. His gift is site, not a recipe stamp. Corazon del Rio is a younger block of the Buena Tierra vineyard in the Russian River Middle Reach. He ferments and ages the Chardonnay in French oak, 20 percent new, about 14 months.
The back label on this bottle is the lock: produced and bottled by Shibumi Knoll Vineyards, Calistoga, CA. Crafted by Thomas Rivers Brown. 14.2% by volume. 750 mL.
He came from Sumter, South Carolina, studied literature and economics at Virginia, then drove west and started at Turley in 1997. Fred Schrader hired him in 2000 before he had made a Cabernet. Wine Spectator put that career on the cover in 2018.
Other houses that use this winemaker include:
Three revelers. One shared table. Six labels, one picture.
The front labels are cut from a single vineyard tapestry. Lined up they read as one image: old vine, river, flask, grape-bearer, wreath, the basin at dusk. The wine inside is the same 2023 Corazon del Rio Chardonnay.
Shibumi is a Japanese idea of effortless perfection. Don Ross founded Shibumi Knoll on a rocky knoll north of St. Helena, then bought Buena Tierra Chardonnay in the Russian River Valley after a barrel tasting that stopped him. Thomas Rivers Brown has made the wines since 2010.
Corazon del Rio is the younger block of that vineyard, produced in the same manner as Buena Tierra. The 2022 house note was floral honeysuckle, bright citrus, roasted nut, a silky mouthfeel. The 2023 keeps that cool-river line.
Three Revelers is the name on this glass: an invitation to linger, laugh, and raise a glass together. The producer on the back is still Shibumi Knoll.
Scallops first. Then a mushroom risotto.
Lemon, stone, and a little oak want sweet seafood and earthy cream. Not a heavy steak.
Chef Jean-Pierre sears scallops, June 2023. A cooking video for the plate, not a winery film.
Serve 48 to 52 F in a white-wine glass. A splash pour is enough. Keep the lemon in front of the cream.
Pan-seared scallops
Hard brown crust, herb butter, lemon. The wine's acidity cuts the pan.
Why it works: Suckling's lemon and wet stone already sit in the glass. Scallop sweetness gives them a place to land.
View Recipe for pan-seared scallops (opens in a new tab)
Mushroom risotto
Earth, cream, chives. The oak line in the 2023 wants that plate.
Why it works: Mushrooms echo the river-stone savor. Risotto cream meets 14 months of French oak without burying the lemon.
View Recipe for mushroom risotto (opens in a new tab)Put Napa's Top Gun Chardonnay on the table tonight.
Thomas Rivers Brown. Corazon del Rio. James Suckling 94. The bottle is $30.
This Chardonnay will blow your mind. Take the bottle. Collect the six labels if you want the full picture. Twelve bottles ship free.
