Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a site in the Santa Maria Valley and aged 15 months in 60% new French oak, the 2017 Chardonnay Le Souvenir Sierra Madre Vineyard from Lato offers a vivid gold color as well as a rocking bouquet of lemon curd, crushed rocks, white currants, spice box, and white flowers. Rich, powerful, and layered, yet also vibrant and racy, with beautiful purity and precision on the palate, it's one of the most seamless, flawlessly balanced wines in the lineup. It's brilliant today yet should evolve effortlessly.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Grapes for this wine come from a parcel of 24-year-old vines planted in sandy soils, and the wine was aged 15 months in 60% new French oak. Youthfully coiled, the 2017 Chardonnay le Souvenir Sierra Madre Vineyard has a mineral-driven nose that slowly, slowly opens up to saline, crushed shell, white peach, tiny touches of baking spice and nutmeg coming through from the amazingly integrated 75% new oak, lime skin, dried hay and leaves, elderflower and lemon curd—so, so many layers. Medium to full-bodied, it has a backbone of that signature pixelated texture and juicy acidity with layer upon flavor layer blossoming in the mouth, finishing very, very long and full of energy. Wow! Absolutely world class Chardonnay. That texture is unreal.
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.