Winemaker Notes
This wine features vibrant notes of fresh pineapple and apricot, complemented by candied ginger, white flowers, and marzipan. Its rich yet balanced profile pairs beautifully with BBQ shrimp, brick chicken, musubi, or pasta with brown butter and lardons.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2023 Chardonnay La Hermana, 100% Bien Nacido, delivers a wallop of savory intensity highlighted by a flicker of stylistic reduction, making it a standout in this impressive range. Lemon oil, tropical fruit and taut minerality introduce a wine of structure and linearity that really drives across the palate with intent. A touch of mint and wild herbs lingers on the long, nervy finish. Fabulously sophisticated and distinctive.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Assembled from younger plantings at Bien Nacido, the 2023 Chardonnay La Hermana is distinctly herbal, minty and floral on the nose, setting it apart in the context of the Liquid Farm roster. The palate is lifted, vibrant and high-toned, concluding with an understated finish that lingers with elegantly toasty undertones and marine-driven flourishes.
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.