Winemaker Notes
This Chardonnay balances California sun and coastal chill in a delightful package, with apricot, Asian pear, orange blossom and wet stone leading a fresh, summery nose. Well-integrated oak provides some weight, and while creamy in texture the wine is poised with acidity and vibrant, lightly spiced orange peel flavors. Its equal generosity and perk make for an affable, food-friendly Chardonnay.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"This might be the best entry-level Chardonnay we have been able to make," winemaker Sashi Moorman says. "We planted about 35 acres of Chardonnay at Domaine de la Côte. Most of it goes into the Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay, but any juice that is pressed is declassified into the Central Coast Chardonnay. So beginning in 2022, we were able to start putting our own estate fruit into this wine rather than purchased fruit." The 2022 Chardonnay Central Coast has pure scents of yellow peach, panna cotta, bread dough, pie crust and spicy undertones. The medium-bodied palate offers dynamic flavors that range from stone fruit to honey and matchstick. It has a luxuriously silky texture, bright acidity and a long finish.
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.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.