Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Brilliant acidity behind rich, ripe and creamy flavors. The wine is luscious, fresh, layered and long in the finish. Full-bodied, toasty and concentrated but sleek and elegant, too.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills is broad and tropical on the nose, with aromas of tangerine oil, white peach and yellow apples. The palate is plush and weighty yet retains a taut, refreshing core, leading to an impressively focused and saline-driven finish a fitting, well-made introduction to the powerfully elegant style at Alma Rosa.
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Wine Enthusiast
Lovely nectarine and white flower aromas are cleanly presented on the nose of this bottling. The palate is tightly wound at first and then opens into flavors of orange oil and lemon blossom before clinging back to that leathery structure.
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.