Winemaker Notes
The Sierra Madre Chardonnay was aged 16 months in French oak barrels and went through malolactic fermentation leading to a soft and creamy texture while still keeping the stunning fruit notes. The wine opens with soft notes of honeysuckle baked pineapple and butterscotch before leading into rich flavors of spiced pear, pineapple, and vanilla. The finish is long and creamy with a lovely hint of Crème Brûlée.
The balance of creaminess and fruit in this showcase Chardonnay pairs beautifully with garlic and rosemary grilled lamb chops with roasted baby potatoes.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Salted apricot, light butter and almond aromas make for a classic nose on this bottling from a historic property. The palate is rich with butter, sea salt and baking-spice flavors, proving powerful while balanced.
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.