Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Smelling this, you might think you're in for a proverbial "oak bomb." It did spend 18 months in new François Freres barrels, but the fruit is the dominant force here. "Spicy, vibrant, polished, pristine," commented Hunter Hammett of Jardinière. Jim Clendenen grew some of this chardonnay at his own Le Bon Climat Vineyard, sourcing the rest from Bien Nacido’s K Block, planted in 1972. It's impressively rich, yet gains focus and intensity in the finish, the flavors as satisfying as a perfectly ripe apricot but more earthy and complex.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another white brought up in new French oak, the 2012 Chardonnay Nuits Blanches Au Bouge offers classic Chardonnay notes of ripe orchard fruits, honeysuckle, white flowers and toasted bread notes in a medium to full-bodied, balanced and beautifully textured style. It's a gorgeous Chardonnay that has a classic, focused feel and while it was brought up all in new oak, it's perfectly integrated into the wine. Impressive now, this beauty will also age gracefully.
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 lesser-known but elite AVA within the larger Santa Barbara district, the Santa Maria Valley AVA runs precisely west to east starting near the coast. The valley funnels cool, Pacific Ocean air to the vineyards more inland, allowing grapes a longer hang time to ripen evenly and achieve their full potential by harvest time. Combined with minimal rainfall, consistent warm sunshine, and well-drained soils, it is an ideal environment for grape growing.
Many of the wineries here are small and highly respected, having established a reputation in the 1970s and 80s for producing excellent Central Coast wines like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. More recently, Syrah has also proven quite successful in the region. Many vineyards are owned by growers who sell their grapes to other wineries, so it is common to see the same vineyard name on bottlings from different wineries. Bien Nacido Vineyard is perhaps the best-known and most prestigious.