Winemaker Notes
This wine offers layered notes of Golden Delicious apple, marzipan, and lemon zest, with subtler hints of Earl Grey tea, oyster shell, and crème brûlée adding depth and complexity.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Chardonnay Golden Slope offers elegantly rich aromas of toasted hazelnuts, popcorn kernels and butterscotch. On the palate, it is texturally generous and honeyed while remaining admirably focused, finishing with a lovely balance between oak-tinged power and high-toned energy. This walks the line between contemporary and classic California Chardonnay admirably well.
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 superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.