Bally Keal Estate · Petaluma Gap
2024 Bally Keal Estate Chardonnay, Petaluma Gap, California
A place on your wine list
Adrian Guerrero's 2024 Petaluma Gap Chardonnay. Lemon, pear, and flint. Wind and fog in the glass, built for roast chicken.
Winery SRP $32 per bottle
Why this bottle belongs on the list
Two selling points.
Then the market.
Adrian Guerrero trained under Jeff Cohn, then came home in 2024.
Adrian grew up in Vacaville picking pears with his grandfather. He studied enology at Fresno State, then worked Rockpile in Dry Creek, Silver Eagle in Russian River, and Gary's Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands under Jeff Cohn. After a turn as assistant brewer at Jackrabbit, he joined Bally Keal as winemaker and brewer in 2024. His brief is purity of fruit and gentle cellar work. This 2024 Chardonnay is Gap climate under that hand.
Petaluma Gap on the label. Wind and fog, not a tropical bomb.
The estate sits on eighty acres in Suisun Valley. This bottle is not Suisun Cabernet and it is not a tropical California Chardonnay. It is labeled Petaluma Gap. Wind and fog off the Gap keep lemon, pear, and a flinty mineral line taut. The house is Irish hospitality. The Gap is the climate.
The buyer's perspective
What the guest
hears first.
Lemon, ripe pear, flint, a slightly saline close. Medium body, bright Gap acidity. Staff can sell it in one sentence: Bally Keal's Petaluma Gap Chardonnay, Adrian in the cellar, pour it with roast chicken.
Winemaker's corner
Vacaville · Fresno State · Jeff Cohn · Bally Keal 2024
Adrian
Guerrero
Adrian grew up in Vacaville picking pears with his grandfather. Mint, sage, and summer fruit from the family garden are the smells he still names. A college fascination with fermentation sent him to Fresno State for enology.
Jeff Cohn put him on serious sites: Rockpile in Dry Creek, Silver Eagle in Russian River, Gary's Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Those years taught him to chase flavor without burying fruit. A turn as assistant brewer at Jackrabbit added cellar patience.
He came home to Suisun Valley in 2024 as winemaker and brewer at Bally Keal. The photograph on this page is Adrian in the cellar with the house whites and a Cabernet. This vintage is his.
The house
Owner.
Winemaker.
The rows.
Joe Cassidy
County Clare, 1976. He built the 80-acre Suisun Valley estate as a place of farmsteads. The greeting is Cead Mile Failte, one hundred thousand welcomes.
Adrian Guerrero
Vacaville native. Fresno State enology. Mentored by Jeff Cohn at Rockpile, Silver Eagle, and Gary's Vineyard. Joined Bally Keal as winemaker and brewer in 2024.
Estate vineyards
Sixty-two acres of Cabernet, organically farmed, biodiesel tractors, Fish Friendly Farming. The rows behind the house.
The estate
Eighty acres in Suisun Valley.
Gap fruit in the glass.
Bally Keal sits at 4286 Suisun Valley Road in Fairfield. Suisun is a Patwin word for where the west wind blows. The house farms 62 acres of Cabernet organically, with biodiesel tractors and Fish Friendly Farming. Stems and skins compost on site for three years.
This 2024 Chardonnay is not that estate Cabernet. It is a Bally Keal bottling labeled Petaluma Gap. Wind and fog off the Gap keep citrus and pear tight. The estate story is the welcome. The Gap is the climate. Keep that distinction on the list.
Winery operations run on a 100,000-watt solar array. Water is captured and reused so nothing leaves the vineyard into Suisun Creek. Serve this white as the roast-chicken glass, not as a cellar trophy.
2024 in the glass
Lemon.
Pear.
A Gap mineral line.
Winery tasting notes lock lemon, ripe pear, a flinty mineral note, and a hint of toasted crust. Medium body, bright acidity, a slightly saline close. No 2024 critic tasting note is locked on this Petaluma Gap bottling. Drink it this year. No long decant.
Menu and service
Built for a serious table.
- Roast chicken with lemon and thyme
- Seared scallops in a butter pan
- Simple roast fish with herbs
Serve near 50 F in a white Burgundy glass. No long decant.
Staff pairing clip
Gordon Ramsay roast chicken
The tableside introduction
“This is Bally Keal's 2024 Petaluma Gap Chardonnay. Adrian Guerrero in the cellar, Joe Cassidy's Irish house. Lemon, pear, and flint. Pour it with roast chicken.”
Ready for your team
Put the story to work.
Shelf talker
A concise bottle story for guest-facing displays. No trade price.
Download PDFServer card
The pitch, menu matches, and service notes in a compact format.
Download PDFFull trade sheet
Joe Cassidy, Adrian Guerrero, Petaluma Gap fruit, tasting, market context, and the case offer.
Download PDFOrder the case
Put Bally Keal Chardonnay on the list.
A Petaluma Gap white from an Irish house in Suisun Valley. Trade $20 a bottle, $240 the twelve-bottle case, one-case minimum.
