Winemaker Notes
Grown high on the limestone-rich soils of Mt. Harlan, this is a sleek and sophisticated expression of cool-climate Chardonnay, with alluring aromas of guava, Mandarin orange, fennel and hints of cedar. On the palate, the wine’s lovely weight and lush texture is balanced by a bright natural acidity that adds purity and precision to the generous white peach and passionfruit flavors.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Hailing from Josh Jensen's iconic vineyard at 2,200 feet above the Salinas Valley, this is an epic Chardonnay, loaded with clean, lively aromas of cherimoya, honeysuckle, sweet cream, crisp peach, struck flint and chive. The palate is tightly wound, with flavors of lemon spray, seared nectarine, sea salt and toasted oak.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Mount Harlan went through full malolactic and aged 15 months in 30% new French oak. The nose unfurls to mushroom tart, prosciutto, baked quince and golden apples with a streak of crushed shell/saline plus accents of orange blossoms, jasmine and hazelnuts. Light to medium-bodied, it's minerally on the entry, slowly spreading savory wings in the mouth, lifted by tangy acidity and finishing long, bright and mineral again. I love the dynamic character of this wine.
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Wine & Spirits
Calera has about ten acres of chardonnay planted in Mt. Harlan’s limestone soils; two-thirds of it was planted in 1984. This vintage had the tasters at our table sitting up in their chairs. “Oh,” said one, “this wine has some stuffing to unstuff.” It leads with a powerful oak spice, from 30 percent new and 10 percent seconduse French-oak barrels; then it turns rich and beautifully structured, the fruit round, with notes of toasted lees, hazelnuts and golden apple. It needs time or a decanter before you serve it with a roast chicken, Zuni style.
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Wine Spectator
Well-structured, juicy and redolent of pear tart flavors, with spicy shadings. The buttery finish is nicely framed by hints of wet stone and dried citrus.
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.
At elevations reaching well over 2,000 feet, the Mt. Harlan AVA in the Gabilan Range is an anomaly among its surrounding Central Coast appellations. Recognizing the splendor of the area and its ideal limestone-rich soils, Josh Jensen chose Mt. Harlan as the home of his Calera Wine Company in the 1970s. Awarded his own AVA in 1990, Calera is the only commercial winery in the appellation.