Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Whiffs of just-ripe pineapple and mellowed buttercream emerge from this pale-colored yet vibrant take on the grape, grown on vines high above the Santa Ynez River valley. Tension and verve powers the palate, with lemon rinds, Greek yogurt, papaya spritzer and some slight tannins.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Always the first vineyard to be harvested, the 2012 Chardonnay Rita’s Crown has slightly tropical notes that give way to hints of white peach, mint and green citrus with air. It’s a medium-bodied, juicy and sweetly fruited effort that has loads of charm.
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Wine Spectator
Gracefully balanced, with vibrant, grapefruit-infused acidity that provides lively tension between the citrus, green apple and honeydew melon notes. Pure and zesty on the finish. Drink now through 2022.
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.