Winemaker Notes
A rich, luxurious Chardonnay with fruit notes of pear, nectarine, and lemon confit accompanied by chalky minerality and toasted spice. Brought up in new Francois Freres French oak barrels, it is medium-bodied, balanced, with a great mid-palate as well as impressive length.
Cuisine with an Asian influence, with its herbs, spices and at times richness is a perfect pairing with this Chardonnay.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Slightly more expensive, the 2020 Chardonnay Nuits-Blanches au Bouge - Hindsight comes entirely from Chardonnay (90% Bien Nacido and 10% Le Bon Climat vineyards) that spent 18 months in new French oak. Its similar medium gold hue is followed by stunning notes of ripe orchard fruits, honeyed melon, spicy oak, and white flowers. Slightly larger scaled and richer than the Sanford & Benedict release, it's another stunning Chardonnay from this team that's impeccably made.
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Wine & Spirits
Drawn from Le Bon Climat and Bien Nacido vineyards, this ample chardonnay is as savory as it is rich, with umami mushroom scents, golden apple sweetness and plenty of nutty lees. The savor comes from an almost grain-like toastiness, the texture creamy and generous.
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.