Winemaker Notes
Grown on the hillside above the Santa Maria Bench in Santa Barbara, the premium blocks of the Camelot Highlands Chardonnay vineyard are dedicated to the Jackson Estate bottling. The ancient vines in these blocks have struggled through daily dense fog for over forty years on their own roots stretching down to the prehistoric, seabed soils below. Pineapple, mango and papaya with a creamy, lush, rich palate. Notes of cinnamon, candied lime and vanilla crème brûlée create an appealing and lingering finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Jackson Estate Camelot Highlands Chardonnay has an expressive, pleasantly reductive nose of struck flint, toast, dried hay and mushroom with red apple, saline and chamomile hints. The palate is medium to full-bodied, gaining in amplitude before the juicy acidity kicks in, finishing long and savory. This is well made and a great value.
-
Wine & Spirits
Made from old-vine fruit from hillside blocks planted above Santa Maria’s benchland, this is chardonnay in a classical vein. It’s sumptuous and flavorful, the pear and apple flavors driven by oak without being over the top. Powerful and stylish; for fried chicken.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
More reserved aromatically, the 2017 Chardonnay Camelot Highlands is another ripe, textured, medium to full-bodied Chardonnay that has plenty of orange blossom and spice nuances, integrated acidity, and a good 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.
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.