Sandhi Sanford and Benedict Chardonnay 2015
-
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This wine is classic, both in its proportions and its ability to join the bright, lifted notes of citrus with warmer, rounder aromas of apple and spice. The palate demonstrates a combination of purity and generosity only achievable through vines of an advanced age.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Derived from the own-rooted Wente selection 1971 plantings in this historic site, the 2015 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict is beautiful, wafting from the glass with notes of yellow orchard fruit, praline and nutmeg. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, with amazing old-vine concentration and mid-palate amplitude, racy acids, almost chewy levels of extract and a long, mouthwatering finish.
Other Vintages
2021-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
Sandhi is a small production California winery focusing on select vineyards from the Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County. Sandhi was founded in 2010 by Rajat Parr, the wine director for Michael Mina Restaurants, and winemaker, Sashi Moorman.
Sandhi represents a union essential to the production of wine: the collaboration between man, earth, and vine. The willing participation of all three elements is necessary to make great wine, and the winegrower must make this collaboration rich and nourishing for all involved. An understanding of these joint efforts informs Sandhi’s exploration of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines throughout the Santa Barbara County terroir.
The individual vineyards from which these grapes originate–some legendary, some new–have been exhaustively vetted for character, personality, and balance. Employing the wisdom and talents of people who know the vineyards, Sandhi is dedicated to making wines of finesse, minerality, acidity, structure and balance. Wine achieves power and beauty through the seamless integration of these qualities, and this is the inspiration for Sandhi. Wines exhibiting extreme ripeness, alcohol, oak, and other discordant exaggerations cannot truly express a specific vineyards terroir.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.