Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
The palate of this rich and luxurious wine is sparked by jasmine and sea salt. From an elevation of 2,200 feet, it showcases limestone soil through a line of flint that runs through its core. Lemon verbena and a billowy mouthfeel keep the exquisite parade marching.
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Wine Enthusiast
Light aromas of honeysuckle, sea salt, white peach and nectarine show on the nose of this classic bottling, from a 2,200-foot-high vineyard. There is a strong streak of limestone flavor to the sip, with warmer hints of white peach and toast.
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.