Winemaker Notes
Aromatics of lemon zest and green apple lift and balance the nose. On the palate is citrus, brioche, nuances of royal jelly and cinnamon, and oak notes of walnut and maplewood. The crushed rock minerality the vineyard is known for is throughout the wine. It has bright acidity and a clean, vibrant, pure style that's going to gain richness and depth with a year or two of bottle age and keep for a decade.
Well matched with oysters on the half shell, salmon in beurre blanc, chicken breast with a creamy tarragon sauce, or a Gruyère cheese, ham and onion tart.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Historic Vineyards Collection is fragrant and alluring, with tones of matchstick giving way to perfumed quince, beeswax and cashew. The palate is bursting with perfumed fruit, its expansive layers streaked with flint and honey. It has a vibrant acidity, a silky texture and a long, layered finish. Rating: 95+
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Wine Enthusiast
Clean and mineral-driven aromas of chalk, crushed rock and bright citrus make for an excellent nose on this classic bottling from a classic vineyard. The palate offers honeydew and honeysuckle flavors, but it's the chalky texture that's most compelling, carrying through into an almond and coconut finish.
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.
Ranging from cool and foggy in the west to warm and dry in the east, the Santa Ynez Valley is a climatically diverse growing area. The most expansive AVA within the larger Santa Barbara County region, Santa Ynez is also home to a wide variety of soil types and geographical features. The appellation is further divided into four distinct sub-AVAs—Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon, Los Olivos District and Happy Canyon—each with its own defining characteristics.
A wide selection of grapes is planted here—more than sixty different varieties, and counting. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir dominate in the chilly west, while Zinfandel, Rhône blends, and Bordeaux blends rule the arid east. Syrah is successful at both ends of the valley, with a lean and peppery, Old-World sensibility closer to the coast and lush berry fruit further inland.