Sphaerics 'Overline' Chardonnay, Carneros, USA 2024

Sphaerics is a small production California winery founded in 2022 by winemaking duo Brian Ball and Laura Jones (Aubert/Rousseau), focused on limited-release Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from top cool climate vineyard sites in Napa and Sonoma. The project emphasizes a Burgundian inspired approach, using careful vineyard sourcing, native fermentations, and long elevage to highlight purity, texture, and site expression rather than overt richness. Production is extremely limited, with each wine released in only a few hundred cases. Overline and On Days and Nights have quickly gained attention for their balance of California fruit intensity with fine structure, acidity, and mineral drive.

“Overline” Chardonnay 2024, Carneros is a limited-production, luxury Chardonnay that highlights the cool-climate precision of Carneros fruit with a distinctly refined, modern winemaking approach. It opens with a lifted aromatic profile of lemon curd, white peach, green apple, and citrus blossom, layered with subtle notes of brioche, toasted almond, and crushed oyster shell. The palate is silky yet structured, showing a balance of creamy mid-palate texture and vibrant natural acidity that keeps the wine focused and energetic. Hints of saline minerality and fine oak integration carry through a long, polished finish.

"The 2024 Chardonnay Overline, tasted from tank just prior to bottling, shares remarkable similarities with the 2023, but with everything dialed up. It's another wine that balances inner tension with plush, unctuous textures and unreal density. The depth of the minerality and tactile zip of the acids here join together in effortless harmony. I can't wait to taste this from bottle." Vinous 95-97