Liquid Farm Bien Bien Chardonnay 2015
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Made entirely from old-vine chardonnay from the legendary Bien Nacido vineyard. This continues to be our only single-vineyard offering. 2015 was our 3rd year producing this wine and both the 2013 & 2014 set the bar pretty high. We're happy to report the 2015 is just as stunning and built both for near term pleasure as well as a trusty cellar gem. A very limited production again, less than 200 cases were made.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Bien Bien Chardonnay delivers opulent brioche, cashews and ginger notes over a core of ripe apricots and spiced pears. Medium-bodied, with wonderful tension and beautiful poise, the youthful stunner offers satisfying intensity and depth with a lovely layered finish.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Enthusiast
From 40-year-old vines of Bien Nacido Vineyard, this bottling offers ashy Brie rind aromas alongside lemon pith and light guava peel. Compelling tension on the palate frames the tangerine pith and Key lime flavors, which warm toward buttermilk and flint toward the finish.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Chardonnay Bien Bien (all from Bien Nacido and aged in 30% new French oak) offers more spice, toasted bread and orchard fruits, with lots of minerality, medium to full-bodied richness and a clean finish. It will have a decade of longevity.
Other Vintages
2021-
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Enthusiast
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.