Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Mer Soleil Santa Lucia Highlands Reserve Chardonnay shows excellent ripeness and smooth textures. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits lovely creamy fruit aromas and flavors. Pair this with seared sea scallops in a lemon, tarragon sauce. (Tasted: May 10, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Decanter
With the early morning fog and predictable afternoon breezes of the Santa Lucia Highlands, the growing season here is extended to allow for complete ripening of the Chardonnay. The result is an ultra-rich, complex, creamy wine that highlights lively citrus and classic stone fruit flavours along with vibrant acidity.
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.
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.