Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Editors' Choice
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A wine of significant potential, the 2011 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Block UU (from tank) is cool and beautifully focused, with lovely purity in its aromas and flavors. Flowers, lemon peel, crushed rocks and spices are layered into the energetic, polished finish.
Range: 90-92 -
Wine & Spirits
Block UU is the same as W Block (the source of Chanin's chardonnay above). This wine is a blend of the original Clone 4 material and newer chardonnay selections planted in 2002 and 2003. This has a mouthwatering pineapple tang, along with biscuity lees and mineral qualities that give it a savory edge. For pan-roasted sea bass.
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.