Winemaker Notes
One of the finest food wines, the Double L Chardonnay will pair wonderfully with seafood and poultry dishes, as well as a buttery steak.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a buttery style of Chardonnay, but done deliciously. Aromas of clotted cream, browned butter, vanilla custard, sea-salt caramel, roasted almonds and cashews meet with fresh lemon and apple-blossom touches on the chalky nose. The palate is very grippy with Meyer lemon and lime pith, but then reveals creamy flavors of clarified butter on toast. Editors' Choice.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Chardonnay Double L Vineyard is a cellar selection from their estate vineyard and incorporates eight different clones. Brought up in 30% new French oak, it's a rich, textured and concentrated beauty that has terrific purity and freshness in its orchard fruits, toasty oak and baked apple aromas and flavors. It has a Montrachet-like vibe and will drink well for 4-5 years at a minimum.
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.